/lit/ - Literature

first for Rothfuss is the best author ever!!!

Haven't read since I was a kid, and even then it was only the handful of books you're forced to read in class.

I bought some Heinlein, really enjoyed Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land. Someone told me TMIAHM is his best so I saved that til last, and I'm about 100 pages into it.

Just wondering, does anyone take notes while reading? I'm struggling to remember any of the details of the last two books even though I read them within the last year, I can barely remember the basic plot points, nevermind the specifics. I'm wondering if taking notes after finishing a chapter might help.

The only detail I can remember is the paragraph in Starship Troopers where he describes the Fallen Caryatid sculpture, which was one of my favourite parts of the book, but the rest is all a vague haze at most.

Cheers.

Is there any recent fantasy that has all your typical Tolkien-D&D races, that is good?

>>10949472
Why do you feel the need to remember details of media? I'd say I forget a lot of stuff same as you, but in my mind media is there to be experienced and enjoyed, not learnt.

I read Ready Player One a while ago and thought it pretty mediocre. some good some bad, a lot of "meh" But reading this about how much research he did genuinely annoyed me. How can you go into such incredible details for even minor and throwaway lines, but do ZERO research into the core concept of the world you're trying to establish: modern games and VR?
>can buy everything with real money, even really powerfull equipment and "legendary" items
>in game money is real money
>transportation cost for everything, even to school. If you have a virtual vehicle you need to pay for fuel and repairs.
>Leveling takes ages apparently
>Permadeath: If you die, you lose all your items and have to make a new level 1 Avatar.
This last part alone would make it fucking suck.And consider that when you go to a new "world" you are basically powerless. Say you're really well equipped for a Sci-Fi planet with modern armour and laser weapons? Well you go to the warcraft planet or something, and all that stuff doesn't work there, so you're basically nobody again. If you were to set foot on a PVP world, I all but guarantee a VR equivalent of the goon squad would gank you just because of how terrible it is to die in OASIS. All this research, and not a single hour was spend finding out what makes modern games good or bad. fucking hell.

>>10949503
Arts of Dark and Light
>inb4 soybabies

>>10949519
Is the second book actually finished yet?

>>10949510
>Scalzi
>Richard K. Morgan

Poll time!
https://www.strawpoll.me/15430993

Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said,
by PKD:
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22584.Flow_My_Tears_the_Policeman_Said

Roadside Picnic,
by the Strugatsky brothers:
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/331256.Roadside_Picnic

A Night in the Lonesome October,
by Roger Zelazny:
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62005.A_Night_in_the_Lonesome_October

Slan,
by A.E. van Vogt:
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/643792.Slan

The Throne of Bones,
by Brian McNaughton:
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/101991.The_Throne_of_Bones

Floornight,
by nostalgebraist (is this someones OC?):
>https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26218192-floornight

>>10949472
Taking notes while reading is quite common, especially among more "serious" readers. You can always just read SparkNotes or Wikipedia's plot summaries if you want to refresh your memory.

webnovels are novels too

>>10949616
Visual novels are novels too.

>>10949686
Point-and-click adventures are novels too.

>>10949534
no because he's not getting attention any more.

>>10949508
What's the point in experiencing something if you can't remember it or learn from it? It's like taking a 6 month old on holiday.

>>10949555
?

>>10949701
Collected Sunday Funnies are novels too.

>>10949724
Think about it.

>>10949724
don't bother replying to
>baseless implication
posts or
>female author
posts, and the thread can run pretty smooth

>>10949616
Science fiction novels are novels too

>>10949753
Replying to
>female warriors
is okay then

>>10949753
>baseless implication
I'll give you a hint. The attribute being highlighted is temporal in nature.

Tad Williams is doing a live Q&A on his twitter right now

>>10949510
Sound terrible

>>10949806
Figuratively who

>>10949915
Must smell bad

Can I get some recommendations if I like stories like this?

>>10950190

>>10950211
HAHAHAHA

>>10949440
>post a book that spooped you
library at mount char

>>10949605
>Floornight,
>by nostalgebraist (is this someones OC?):

Anon who nominated it here; nope, it's not mine.
I haven't read Floornight yet, but I did read The Northern Caves by the same author and it's probably the only novel I have read in one night in years. Really fucking creepy despite dealing with little more than some deranged (or was he???) fictional author's writings.

>>10950391
P. S. everything this author writes (under the pseudonym, anyway) is available for free online, so I hope y'all won't go too hard on me for shilling.

>>10950190
>40k
Caiphas Cain

Has anyone read Richard Laymon? Favourite books of his?

I'm thinking about reading either The Stake or Travelling Vampire Show. I also have a short story collection of his called Dreadful Tales if you have recommendations.

>>10949440
ive been lookin for a good scifi horror. but can a book really scare me?

>>10949605
damn, the polls are stacked this month. a night in the lonesome october is going to be rand pauled again.

>>10950797
Is it good? Only Zelazny I have is Lord of Light.

>>10950644
Peter Watts' Firefall trilogy (Blindsight/The Colonel/Echopraxia).

>[character] narrows their eyes
Fuck you this doesn't actually tell me what expression someone's making. They could be angry, sad, confused, and probably a bunch of other stuff.

WHERE IS THAT FAGGET E WILLIAM BROWN
HE HASN"T UPDATED IN MONTHS
RRREEEEEEE
https://williamscorner.blog/

>>10950986
The attached meaning is usually implied. If not, it's up to the reader to decide, which I'd rather than needing to read "angrily" and "confusedly" every time

>>10950986
Sven narrowed his his eyes in a manner likely denoting anger but possibly hinting mirth. "Sven's gonna kill me :(" Balazar thought to himself "the particular way his eyes have narrowed is indicative of a joyfully killing rage". Balazar never returned to his sweetheart-across-the-moor.

anyone got any Snow Crash ancap meme balls?

>>10950986
Describing people's expressions is dumb anyway.

The subtleties of a person's facial expressions can only be got across clumsily in writing, because you either say too little (reducing complex expressions down to a single gesture which communicates nothing, like in your example) or too much, creating a full and accurate description that bogs down the story.

A character's emotional state should be communicated by action and dialogue.

Rather than
>Character narrowed their eyes
try
>Character flinched back in disgust
or
>Character balled his fists, seething with tension

Should I start Malazan or Way of Kings next? I've heard Eriksen is a bit of a faggot, so I'm leaning towards the later.

What is a modern science fiction novel that people 50 years from now will be saying was "ahead of its time"?

>>10951394
My diary desu

>>10951394
too like the lightning kek

>>10949519
>vox

Why does Gollancz keep making these anniversary editions? They look OK but they're smaller than the usual hardcovers.

How delusional am I to expect that they will reprint the normal hardcover edition of the older books once Thorn of Emberlain (eventually) comes out? People want matching sets after all.

>>10951291
>>10950986
Human emotions are sometimes ambiguous you know, unless your POV is a fucking mind reader he doesn't always know what the other person's body language means. Misunderstandings happen in life, no reason they shouldn't happen sometimes in fiction also.

>>10950986
>his eyes glowed with killing intent

>>10952092
>his killing intent doesn't solidify to the point where plebs start randomly exploding even when not mad
weak

>>10952084
Sometimes they're ambiguous, but usually they're not. The point is that emotions involve multiple movements in the face, and something like the narrowing of eyes is present in the expression of so many emotions that saying that alone doesn't tell much, and even the context often would be enough to narrow it down to one expression.

>>10951064
>i'd rather leave it to the reader's imagination than describe what the pov is actually seeing :^)
No fuck off

>>10952156
>would
wouldn't

>>10951375
Depends, do you want to start a serie that won't be finished before at least 2030 ?

>>10952193
Not particularly.

Sometimes using descriptive words is better for clarity, but some things are a little more subtle and can be better conveyed by describing body language. Your approach is simply too narrowminded.
That said, you're an idiot who actually thinks saying a character is SEETHING is a good idea so I wouldn't expect you to understand depth

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7562764-the-quantum-thief
Is this good?

So, question webnovelfags:

Is The Wretch Victoria's forcefield, and if so was the implication that it was a second trigger event or a result of Amy fixing her wrong?

>>10949605
Slan, not because it's that good but because I want to hear others' opinions about it.

>>10952356
Don't read finnish meme books.

>>10952425
Why not

>>10949616
Yes

>>10949686
No

>>10952246
Who are you talking to?

>finally get to reading Oathbringer
>it's a Shallan chapter
when will this ever end holy fuck, it's the third book already
Has nobody told him everyone hates Shallan chapters?

>>10952747
ur mum

>>10952356
Yes but The Golden Age covers pretty much the same themes while being better.

>"Senior Song, did something happen to you today? I feel that you’re acting a bit strange." Soft Feather asked very concernedly.

>A bit strange? Song Shuhang doubtfully scrolled through his chat log from start to finish, but he absolutely could not find any strange aspects in his messages.

>He scratched his head. To sense that his condition was different today from just that, was this the legendary magical sixth sense of a woman?

>"If it’s something that happened, then it would be that I killed someone today." Song Shuhang thought over it briefly, then entered these words lightly with his keyboard, "I cut off his head with my own hands in a slash, watching his head fly. Remembering it now… it’s like dreaming, all so unrealistic."

>For unknown reasons, Song Shuhang felt relieved after entering those words, as if a rock that pressed down on his heart had been moved away.

>"It’s Senior’s first time taking a life? Do you regret it?" Soft Feather replied quickly. In her mind, she recalled the scene of her father, Venerable Spirit Butterfly, consoling her after she had killed for the first time.

>She did not understand how to console someone else, but she could imitate the process of how her father had consoled her, and put what she had learned to good use!

>"I don’t regret it." Song Shuhang entered these three words affirmably. Even if he went back in time, he would still swing the sword without hesitation!

>"I’ve seen Senior’s resolve and the beliefs behind that strike. Senior Song, you needn’t think too much. Now, you only need to remember why you swung your sword, solidifying the belief you had when you swung. As long as your belief is firm and right, then it is a regretless choice. No need to pressure yourself, I will always support you from behind." Soft Feather said considerately.

>As she entered those words, her face seemed to glow with the radiance of a goddess.

>"Thank you." Song Shuhang showed a gentle smile. Soft Feather’s consolation seemed awkward, Song Shuhang felt like he was facing a senior. However, her kind intentions were fully received by Song Shuhang.

>"You’re welcome, Senior. I’m off to battle with the contract formation now! When I complete the contract, I’ll find Senior and we’ll explore the mysterious island!" with that said, Soft Feather logged off, satisfied.

>Being able to help Senior Song, she was very happy.

>At this moment, in another area on Spirit Butterfly Island.

>Venerable Spirit Butterfly looked at the dialogue between his daughter and Song Shuhang, and already cried till he fainted in the toilet.

>>10953066
is this that game from the three body problem?

>>10952991
>mum
FOY

>>10952993
Are you talking about this: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22825770-the-golden-age

>>10953066
>He didn't understand how to write intelligibly, but he could imitate the process of how his favorite webnovel author had written, and put what he had learned to good use!

>>10952759
>finally get to reading way of kings
>50 pages in
>its a shallan chapter
im already sick of this shit.

.>tried reading Leviathan's wake
>couldn't understand any of the sci fi words
>long as hell too
>give up

am i a pleb?

>>10949717
You take away small lessons and experiences from each book that shapes you as a person. You're not a fucking computer, stop roleplaying as one.

>>10951714
>t. soybaby

>>10953101
I think that's Cultivation Chat Group but I'm not certain (I don't read it)

>>10950472
mein neger

When will they learn?

Any recommendations on books about transhumanism or with transhumanist settings

>>10954624
Transmetropolitan

>>10954624

I finally finished Citadel of the Autarch, and goddamn I fucking loved it, although I do feel SotL had a better climax than it. In fact, I don't think CotA had a climax at all, since there was no buildup for anything, just Severian's journey as always.

And just as I typed that, I realized that Severian's was a journey with no actual goal until it just happened, so I don't know how to feel about that.

Anyway, I should reread the complete BotNS some day, as I barely remember the details from the first two books, but Severian writing himself as an autist who also managed to fuck every girl he met was kinda silly.

And I STILL don't know what the fuck are the House Absolute and Azure supposed to be, though I suppose the former is basically the Autarch's equivalent to a King's castle.

I want to read Peace now, but being a poorfag sucks, and my library most likely doesn't have it, fug.

>>10952759
B-but it's progressive anon!

>>10954624
The Transhumanist Wager by Zoltan Istvan

>>10954725
Since it's Sev writing about himself and considering how much of an autist he is, you can probably assume that his interactions with females are somewhat touched up.

just finished Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. Really worried what it says about me that I enjoy such utter shit.

Is Demon Princes good or is Vance a dinosaur, i need something else to read.

>>10955296
It says more about you that you say it's utter shit when it's not.

Is this good? I haven't read the Broken Empire, do you need to?

>>10955343
it really is. The magic system and the action scenes are pretty cool but the general edginess and incredibly cliched shit that happens make it shit. It's good for genre fiction I guess.

>>10955357
> I haven't read the Broken Empire, do you need to?
No. Completely different settings.

>>10954725
What do you mean Sev has no goal. His goal is to go to Brax or drax or wherever that city was to become a torturer. He just does a shittonne of stuff before he makes it so it takes him ages.

>>10955391
I suppose that's true, but he reachs it by the 2nd book IIRC, and then he just runs around and shenanigans ensue wherever he goes.

>>10955357
Forgot pic

>>10953211
Pleb and brainlet

>>10955473
Mark Lawrence is fucking garbage.

>>10949440
>can't hide from the feels

>>10949440
So what is the deal with George R. R. Martin, is he overrated hack or good author?

>>10953835
Seriously, thanks for this post.
I have the same problem as the anon you replired to.

Just thought you guys would like to know of this website.
https://www.litrpg.com/

Random question: What fantasy and science fiction artist art books should I get?

>>10955918
From what I've heard, ASOIAF is meh, but his sci-fi stuff is great.

>>10955918
Vastly overrated compared to what his fans think of him. He relied too much on GOTTA SUBVERT DEM EXPECTATIONS and painted himself into a corner with ASOIAF.

>>10955962
You posted the answer to your own question.

>>10955918

The story is amazing and I want more. Is the movie going to let me down?

>>10956458
Wait ... someone actually read the book before seeing the film?

>>10956458
No, but you already have the answers to the main questions that everyone who only sees the film has been pondering for fifty years. I.e. Why does HAL go crazy? and What the hell is happening at the end?

>>10956529
Yeah I don't watch a lot of TV

>>10955931
>there is a site dedicated for shitrpg

>>10956550
It's a good film, and I fucking hate most films

>>10956458

Why not just read the sequels? I read it when I was younger, but I remember enjoying 2061.

>>10956599
Wikipedia says they're sequels to the movie rather than the book.

Has anyone here ever read Beyond Apollo?

>>10955918
I personally love ASOIAF. In fact it was my first fantasy series, which eventually got me to read LOTR, Dune and other great books I would have never read otherwise.

>>10956662
>red keep.jpg
I like the Black Keep better.

>>10956615
They're a little of both. Some bits in the sequels are playing off the movie, others are playing off the book. Clarke explains this in the foreword to 2061.

Just finished Inda.
Perhaps a little too much talking about the main character, but overall I enjoyed it. I actually wish the series was a bit longer, which is not something I say very often.
The story and characters were concluded well, but it really glossed over a lot of the character's stories and travels, and particularly anything related to magic.
The Black Company is a great example of a story that was drawn out too long, and I think that's closer to where most fantasy series fall.
It's weird to read one that just rushes headlong to the finish line without the normal sense of worldbuilding and exploration.

>>10954624
Diamond Dogs, a not too long piece about transhumanism. If you like it you can read more from the author, Alastair Reynolds, as this seems to be one of his more common themes.


>>10955918
He's written entertaining books that include thorough descriptions of food.

The ending to A Maze of Death reminded me of Neoquest II.

>>10955962
Frank Frazetta is top tier, however he've drawn quite much crap also. When it comes to Conan I prefer Mark Schultz.

>>10955918
He's great. He's also overrated.

>>10955296
I haven't read Demon Princes but Lyonesse and the Cugel stories are brilliant. As is Araminta Station (the sequels less so). Planet of Adventure is middling Vance but worth reading.

>>10955918
He wrote three great books, but lost touch with his plot nearly 20 years ago.

I credit him for what he did, but dude you need to finish your story.

>>10956999
Where do you think I can find some supple thick qts like that in the pic?

>>10956458
The movie is different from and better than the book. The sequels are worse than both but not horrible.

>>10955918
Never read ASOIAF but I've read his Dreamsongs collection and that has some okay short stories/novellas in it.

Just finished this and quite liked it. Think I'm gonna take a break from fantasy for a bit since I have so much schoolwork that it's hard to read for pleasure currently but I thought I'd ask - is the rest of the series just as good?

>>10949440
love for Bester's The Stars My Destination?

>>10953140
Fuck no. John C. Wright.

>>10954624
Diaspora

>>10957510
Yes; the ending is quite rushed but Vance finesses it pretty well.

>>10957549
YOU SAID THE SECRET WORLD!
>At age 42, Wright converted from atheism to Christianity, citing a profound religious experience with visions of the "Virgin Mary, her son, and His Father, not to mention various other spirits and ghosts over a period of several days", and stating that prayers he made were answered.[8] In 2008, he converted to the Roman Catholic Church, of which he approvingly said: "If Vulcans had a church, they'd be Catholics."

>>10957722
Holy fucking BASED.

>>10957722
Man those drugs must have been something else.

>>10957773
The only drug he's on is Jesus Christ. And that's a drug we should all be addicted to.

>>10957803
I too support Jewish Communism.

>>10957826

>>10953211
>Leviathan's wake
No, it's an OK book, but it's not worth reading the sequels.

Plus you can probably just skim the first 100 pages, nothing important happens.

>>10957826
>I too support Jewish Communism.
Also known as 'Communism'

>>10957549
Holy effin hell YES

Is it worth a read?

Should I do it?

>>10957933
It's good, yeah. His Future History stuff is better, though.

>>10957936
If you can afford it then sure.

>>10957936
>400 bucks for some books you've read already

>>10957936
What a colossal waste of money. Those books look hideous, the only part about them I like is the futhark runes, but there are much nicer editions of Tolkien's books that use them. But whatever you clearly have more money than sense.

>>10956098
>fair criticism of ASoIaF on /sffg/
never thought I'd see the day

>>10955473
>>10955357
Nope, they share a setting and the events run parallel, but the stories are not required to be read in any particular order. I would say that Broken Empire is better to read first, but again, not required, just a preference.

>>10955365
>the general edginess and incredibly cliched shit that happens make it shit. It's good for genre fiction I guess.
You are trying way too hard to fit in.

>>10952759
Shallan actually had some really good chapters, she's just insufferable whenever she's around Adolin or anyone else she tries to be "witty" with. Serious business Shallan was some of the most compelling parts of the story for me, I certainly enjoyed it more than Kaladin when he was being mopey. Of course, that said, Kaladin at his best is still by far the greatest part of the Stormlight Archive, I just wish he wasn't so manic depressive.

Just finished Return to the Whorl (the final part of The Book of the Short Sun, and in turn Wolf's Solar Cycle) and I've fallen into that melancholy that comes with finishing something you've been following for so long. Not even sure what I feel like reading to follow it up.

>>10958107
book of the new sun

>>10956999
Ooohhh is this the one story with the giant ebonite ritualistic dudes on some tropical island and Conan's a pirate?

>>10957873
Communism is not fucking Jewish you twit, Stalin purged the Jews in the late 40s using, ironically, Nazi propaganda.

>>10950391
Can confirm that Floornight is good. If you like Peter Watts, you'll like this. Nostalgebraist publishes his works for free too. I think he's a data scientist in real life?

>>10958145
I started with BoTNS and read straight through all 12 books in the cycle. I like a little time before I jump right into a reread.

>>10958173
>Communism is not fucking Jewish you twit, Stalin purged the Jews in the late 40s
You don't even realize how contradictory this statement is. If Communism wasn't Jewish there would've been no reason to purge the Jews from the party. You are the one who is ignorant of history, you apparently know nothing of the Jewish Bund, the international socialist political organization that operated out of Poland and Russia and who collaborated with the Soviets during the 1917 revolution. Not to mention 10% of the Bolshevik party was Jewish (which is the reason the Bund supported them).

Without Jewish support the 1917 revolution would not have happened, and the clannishness of the Jewish socialists is why Stalin had to purge them, their influence threatened his authority.

>>10958219
>10%

Fuck off /pol/tard

>>10958237
Wikipedia is /pol/ now?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolsheviks
>In 1907, 78.3% of the Bolsheviks were Russian and 10% were Jewish (34% and 20% for the Mensheviks).
Waiting to see your sources, friend.

>>10958249
>demands sources
>cites wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit

>>10958249
>wiki
>1/10

If 10% of Republicans are black it's a black party right?

Do people really read literature by men who have no children?

>>10958290
>>10958314
Still waiting to see your amazing sources that prove me wrong.

>>10958314
Jews were dramatically over represented in European communist movements. 10% doesn't sound like a lot, but when a good chunk of that 10% is in the upper echelons of the party it gives that 10% a great deal of influence. Most of the impoverished Jews had fled Russia long before the revolution due to the pogroms against them during Nicholas II's reign as Czar, most of the Jews left in the years leading up to 1917 were members of the intelligentsia or else were political radicals or bundists, i.e. they were important political minds with marked influence on the revolutionary movement.

And this is just Russia, Jews were active in other socialist and communist movements as well, though because they were unsuccessful nobody cares or remembers them as much, except the neo nazis, of which I am not one, by the way.

just finished this today
is the rest of the trilogy worth the time?

Hello anons.
I'm looking for the most unpredictable and engaging book you can recommend.
And I dont just mean an unpredictable ending. I want something that doesnt have a traditional story structure or is a t least not predictable in the slightest. Something that truly keeps you on your toes.
Please help. Im desperate

>>10958763
The Cornelius Chronicles by Michael Moorcock

>>10958777
Thank you very much anon.
Looks like an interesting read

>>10958734
Yeah it's bretty good, but protag keeps getting cucked all the time

OK /sffg/ I took the ebook pill, redpill me on some sci fi essentials. Do I go straight for Clarke/Asimov?

Give me the best shit

>>10958249
Only 10% That is way too little

>>10957371
Hyperborea my dude.

>>10958153
Yeah, The Pool of the Black One.

>>10959204
Clark: Rama, Childhood's End, shorter work also bangs
Asimov: Foundation trilogy is superb, then the robot stories are also good.

>>10959204
>Do I go straight for Clarke/Asimov
It's not a bad place to start. I'd go with Clarke if I were you.

What's the hivemind-approved consensus on Sanderson? Only now got to reading Way of Kings, and while it's not mindblowing, I think it's okay enjoyable.

Previously, there was a man who challenged the taepodong.

The man trained his body, his mentality, and his techniques.

But the taepodong was simply too far away, too high up.

But he did not give up.

At the end of his training of madness, he arrived at the answer.

Question: How can I not be evaporated by a taepodong?

Answer: I simply have to BE a taepodong.

Thus from the simple chain of inspiration was born the ultimate Secret Technique: ‘I AM TAEPODONG.’

(taepodong is a nk icbm)

>>10959836
Eh?

>>10959846
ironic chuuni webnovel
https://tenshihonyakusha.wordpress.com/to-be-a-power-in-the-shadows/

why is quality control in fantasy so shit compared to science-fiction?

>>10959883
The market?

>>10958487
Sanderson has many sons.

>>10958763
Library at mount char

>>10959836
>(taepodong is a nk icbm)
>is a nk intercontinental ballistic missile
What is nk? Japan?

>Library at mount char

I keep seeing this book mentioned here, is it actually good or a meme?

>>10960031
It's a meme. It might still be a decent book though, I don't know.

Looking for something along the same lines as Blindsight and The Three Body Problem

horror>sci-fi>>>>>>>fantasy
search your hearts, you know it to be true

>>10960006
north korea

>>10960139
vampires and chinamen huh

>>10960165
Recommend some horror novels then.

>>10960282
Annihilation

>>10950190

Starship Troopers - it's just awesome; power armour and hand-flamers in the first 10 pages :)

Enders Game - because "There is no teacher but the enemy"

>>10960337
Thank you, cutie x

Anyone read The Shadow Campaigns series? Worth reading?

>>10957803
>The only drug he's on is Jesus Christ. And that's a drug we should all be addicted to.

>>10957722
He's not wrong. Catholics got study of the divine in the figure four leglock. God's not going anywhere.

>>10949510
it really is a terrible book

>>10951394
Earth by David Brin is already coming true, what with the rise of the internet and social media. Next will be the climate refugees, animal arks, and wetlands preservation, also probably floating cities.

>>10960397
Thankfully, there's no mini black hole boring through the earth's crust right now, though.

>>10960397
>floating cities
I literally can't wait.

What are some books that give me the feeling I got from Annihilation?

>>10960418
Alex Garland writes novels, you know.

>>10958072
Shallan does have good chapters whenever she is near other interesting characters and thankfully the witty aspect was mostly dropped and rarely happens again, but I still don't understand why her chapters are such a chore to read
She is a very similar character to the female MC of Elantris, and while she was bearable Shallan isn't, even if she has more interesting things about her
Maybe she just is very boring comparing to the rest of the narrator character, and her DID autism certainly doesn't help making her not shit

>>10960418
Hate for women?

>>10960423
>Alex Garland writes novels, you know
Hot damn, I did not know that. Are any of them any good?

>backstory goes back thousands of years
>they're still stuck in a medieval society

>>10960450
If you've got magic, why would you need industrial advances?

>>10960435
Sticking women in situation that make them feel uncomfortable with some sci-fi elements.

>>10950190
I know I'm late, but you might enjoy The Vorrh. The prose is like reading a stick of butter, it's so dense and rich.

>>10960457
Aren't most stories about sticking people (whether male or female) into situations that make them feel uncomfortable...?

I doubt "Bert and Rhoda's Great Party Where Everyone had Fun and Raved About the Hors D'Oeuvres Which Rhoda Made from Scratch" would be much of a classic.

>>10960450
You know, the world existed thousands of years before medieval times.

>>10960529
But medieval times didn't last millennia.

>>10960541
you weren't there how do you know

Just finished the trilogy of pic related. I thought it was pretty good even though there were some points where I just had to shake my head because some of the characters actions were just blatant willfull ignorance to increase plot tension.

Anyone else read these? keen to hear others thought on the series.

>>10960570
>female special forces

>>10960622
yes, i know, i know, i know what you mean.

>>10960622
special is a nice word for mentally retarded anon.

>>10960362
I think it's arguably the best of the gunpowder fantasy stuff out there, far better than the Powder Mage books anyways.

>>10960720
Rangers rob bank.
https://sofrep.com/68842/flashback-ranger-bank-heist-2006/

Multiple Rangers arrested for drugs and weapons in plot to steal cocaine from drug dealers.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/01/25/soldiers.charged/index.html

Ranger sentenced to prison for shooting other soldier in the neck while "fooling around" with handgun.
http://www.theolympian.com/news/local/crime/article132531989.html
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/local/crime/article164620512.html

SEALs murder Green Beret who found out they were stealing money.
https://www.vox.com/world/2017/11/7/16604484/seal-team-6-navy-army-green-beret-murder

"Moron" SEALs based mulilatons off of fake nazi book:
https://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/moron-seal-team-6-operatives-based-mutilations-off-of-f-1791069958

SEAL charged with felony assault after beating teen:
https://sofrep.com/95355/navy-seal-chris-osman-charged-multiple-felonies-history-assault/

>>10960756
What's you're point.

>>10960397
>our queen
I haven't seen our queen in years
She isn't as cute anymore

Reading this atm.

Any other Epochcore sci fi?

Already read Dune, Canticle for Leibowitz and Earth Abides.

What did we think of grey sister?

>>10958623
Got em

>>10960570
I thought it was good too. Don’t like that he did a prequel for the worst character tho.

>>10958623
historically speaking the jews have been kicked out of pretty much every country they tried to inhabit for the last 4000 or so years. most of the time for, well for a lack of a better way of saying, being jews. it wasnt really until the early 1600s where they started to actually be successful in gaining footholds in countries. and then theres of course isreal which they took from the palestinians.
im by no means right wing nor do i have any sort of slight against jews, well except george soros because i think he might be satan, but i cant help but wonder that if for 4 centuries one people have been kicked out of each land they tried to inhibit, for being bad people, that there might be something profoundly wrong with the jews. i mean you can only say so many times that its everyone else.

>>10961140
It's not just the jews. Any minority group that refuses to assimilate with the culture they're living around will always be despised. Another good example of this are the gypsies.

any good zombie or pandemic lit or bioshit?

preferably new

>>10951394
Anything by Greg Egan

>>10961072
That annoyed me aswell, I hated that smug bitch.
I wanted to see what happened with the ketrel, either before with the Flea or after with Valyn and the rest of his wing.

>>10961183
i am legend is pretty good. its from the mid 50s but it holds up well.
also i cannot recommend it more enough but the zombie survival guide is fucking excellent. rather than a novel its a just a guide that takes in hypothetical scenarios and survival strategies. takes into account multiple types of ficticious zombies, every day items and what can be made from them and it is very logical and and down to earth when doing this.
reading it you might actually thing the author survived an actual zombie apocalypse.

>>10961182
Gypsies are genuinely terrible though.
>They stole my bike when I was ten

>>10950190
I want ice age mtg books (among others), but there are no pdf versions of it.

What's the most animu-like fantasy or sf book you've read?

>>10961499
Time enough for love, and it is one of the worst i have ever read.

>>10961140
>moron Catholics/Muslims riot because they can't understand interest rates
>"no guys the jews were kicked out for being bad people"

>>10961623
spoken like a true jew

>>10961641
fixed
>idiot peasants are stirred into a feeding frenzy when greedy nobility renegs on their promises to pay back loans with interest used to fund bruder wars and the sabotage of other states' economies
>retarded cattle peasantry is incited into massacring innocent jews because a minority of the jewish community engages in usury which is again facilitated by the demand of members of the clergy and nobility who need to finance their wars, revolts, assassinations and acquisitive mercantile ventures (all of which are motivated by earthly ambition and greed, none of which benefit the peasantry)
there you go stormnigger

>>10961499
Any sanderson book is basically written anime with the exception of female characters not being uguu sluts

>>10961678
>jew gets special rights Then suddenly gets in the periphery of a country with no right, to lazy to farm he starts the commi movement and destroyed an empire

>>10959811
hivemind as in the /sffg/ hivemind? he's a hack that basically writes anime.
everyone else in the world loves him.

>>10959883
>lol who the fuck is John Scalzi?

>>10961678
>and this just happens to occur everywhere they go for centuries, but they're never actually at fault
Ok.

>>10961706
>Jew is brought into the country specifically to do a select series of activities and no others
>is not allowed to own land or farm
>the King gives them better treatment than peasants because they perform higher iq duties which only ministers and military commanders could rival in importance for the function of the realm
>communism results from secularization, emancipation and the enlightenment along with vicious post-aristocratic predatory behavior aimed at the proles by the former nobility
It is always good to sharpen the blade on the hides of the wretched and barbaric

>>10959811
No consensus: some like him, some do not.
I like his cosmere stuff, a lot. Didn't like the Reckoners books and haven't read any more of his children's books.

>>10961183
Herbert West—Reanimator by H. P. Lovecraft
>http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/hwr.aspx
The Rising and City of the Dead by Brian Keene
Deadman's Road by Joe R. Lansdale

>>10960401
As far as you know, chump.

>>10952425
f-u-i-l i k e d-i t

Are there any classic (i.e. at least 100 years old) fantasy or scifi stories that DON'T take place in the then-present (the time machine doesn't count since the framing story was current at the time)

Can you people just leave /pol/ in /pol/? This conversation has nothing to do with literature

>>10962365
Yeah. William Morris's The Wood Beyond the World (1894) takes place in the first-ever secondary world, and James Branch Cabell's Poictesme is a fictional medieval French province first invented in 1913.

anything like this?
i was hesitant at first because i thought it was some shitty litrpg but it turned out it wasnt and i really enjoyed it. it was quite funny too.
anyone else read this and can recommend something like it?

>>10959811
It'ssplit between those saying he's muh hack, and those saying he's a comfy entertaining read

>>10949440
how do you guys cope with having books in the same series under different publishers? It's bothering me.

>>10949616
Some Web novels are better than the published tripe.

>>10960362

First one is great, second one shits the bed. There's much less of the army adventures and much more of the "strong female" characters.

>>10954725
You'll enjoy it way more second time around. Give it time and go back. CotA is my favourite part.

>>10960362
I've read three books of it. First book was fantastic. Second book was different, not a single pitched battle in the whole thing, and a lot more lesbian sex. Third book combined pitched battles and lesbian sex. I'm enjoying the way events loosely mirror revolutionary France, but it makes it kinda easy to see where the plot is going.

>>10960426
Shallan I think is a slow starter compared to Kaladin. Just compare their first chapters and it sort of sets your expectations for them.
>Kaladin starts off as a squad leader in the army with a formidable reputation, then dramatically becomes a slave the next time you see him, creating a disconnect that makes you very curious about what happened to him
>Shallan starts off flirting with some sailors on a boat and trying to impress a snooty princess with her art
I mean granted there was a lot more going on with Shallan than first met the eye, and that's the point, she's a liar and doesn't reveal her true nature easily, but it leaves an impression on you.

is David Gemmell good?

>>10963005
Very.

>>10958734
the first book is genuinely a good story about the reality of childish fantasies
the other two books are about nothing much beyond the characters
from the ending of the first one I got the impression his publisher/editor strong armed him into making it a trilogy

the julia sections of book 2 are at least quite good

Is Inquisitor Glokta our guy?

>>10952408
I read Slan probably ten years ago and liked it, but forgot about it until now. Gonna have to go re-read it and see if I still enjoy it.

>>10949510
It is terrible. Also it's not really sci-fi, it's a romantic comedy with sci-fi elements.

There's no way Ernest Cline read all that shit, it definitely doesn't show in reading the novel.

>>10949440
Is this image related to an SCP?

Anybody read starmaker by olaf stapleton? Recently read and really enjoyed it. Lots of plot holes but some really cool stuff in there.

I want to talk about it with someone, but nobodys read it. If anybody has any online blog of somebody talking about it that would be greatly appreciated.

>>10963686
it is. i forgot which number but i think its called mirror world or color world or yellow world.

>>10963686
found it actually its scp-093.
read the test reports too. theyre great.

>>10949440
I need the hard sci-fi, the hardest sci-fi you got. Hard like diamonds.

>>10963481
No
West is /our guy/
Glokta was a Chad

>>10961183
>>10961274
world war z is still the best zombie book / post apocalyptic book I've read, and the audiobook takes it up a notch. would love other recommendations you think are better.

>>10950190
Lovecraft

Does Warhammer 40k have a chart? If not what would be the best introduction?

>>10949440
>yfw sci-fi generals just exist and you don't ever look except to gawk at the high iq /sci/ fags being plebs

The students must have commited suicide so they could escape from the dullest franchise in the history of movie franchises. Seriously each episode following the boy wizard and his pals from Hogwarts Academy as they fight assorted villains has been indistinguishable from the others. Aside from the gloomy imagery, the series’ only consistency has been its lack of excitement and ineffective use of special effects, all to make magic unmagical, to make action seem inert.

Perhaps the die was cast when Rowling vetoed the idea of Spielberg directing the series; she made sure the series would never be mistaken for a work of art that meant anything to anybody?just ridiculously profitable cross-promotion for her books. The Harry Potter series might be anti-Christian (or not), but it’s certainly the anti-James Bond series in its refusal of wonder, beauty and excitement. No one wants to face that fact. Now, thankfully, they no longer have to.

>a-at least the books were good though
"No!"
The writing is dreadful; the book was terrible. As I read, I noticed that every time a character went for a walk, the author wrote instead that the character "stretched his legs."

I began marking on the back of an envelope every time that phrase was repeated. I stopped only after I had marked the envelope several dozen times. I was incredulous. Rowling's mind is so governed by cliches and dead metaphors that she has no other style of writing. Later I read a lavish, loving review of Harry Potter by the same Stephen King. He wrote something to the effect of, "If these kids are reading Harry Potter at 11 or 12, then when they get older they will go on to read Stephen King." And he was quite right. He was not being ironic. When you read "Harry Potter" you are, in fact, trained to read Stephen King.

>>10964246
>>>/tv/

>>10950986
Well I usually narrow my eyes on a bunch of occasions. It's a good expression to be using. The dumb part is reducing a person to a single, pinpoint accurate emotion, a mistake many writers make.

>>10952759
>first page in Mistborn first triligy first iteration
>it's ALREADY a Shallan chapter
Jesus Christ Sandman, I swear...

>>10960450
Alright, dumb frogposting aside, it's something I've always wondering myself. Why are so many fantasy universes stuck in medieval-like worlds and why doesn't technology advance even though all fantasy is full of warfare and hardships and need? Why do people still use torches and candles?
I can understand if magis is a generously common practice and readily available, and even then. Today's technology is basically magic, yet there are still advances in all fields everywhere. We got out of medieval times in a relatively short period (relative to the entire humankind history). Why are fantasy worlds stuck in medieval-like times for hundreds and thousands of years?

>>10962970
She did have some decent character growth in oathbringer though. She's no longer jasnah's ward but not quite an equal.

Speaking of jasnah anyone else got the feeling she's gonna be a big bad at the end? I mean not in disguise or some shit, just convinved that the other side is right.

>>10964874
'Cause "EPIC" shit only happens in medieval times, mate.

Wars and combat are fought in the span of minutes or even second depending on targetting algorithms in our time. Not to mention the whole alt-right sovereignty bullshit that plagues the current time.

Can't unite world against the big bad when you have to write the alt-fright way of things into your book to establish the opinion of the times.

Seriously, can you imagine writing local politics with that horse shit in mind, damn. Those fakking larpers are more about cultural heritage than the people living in those goddamn times even where.

>>10960397
Man i wanna fuck boxxy so bad....

>>10960450
>dumb iPhone phoneposter
You did double wrong

>>10960570
FUCK
A
D
A
R
E
THE BITCH

>"Anyhow God doesn't insert such phrases as 'your behind' in otherwise beautiful songs. Not any god I can imagine."
>Rybys said, "He's trying to get your attention."
>"He would do better to say, 'Look, let's talk.'"
>"This apparently is a furtive life form. It's not isomorphic with us. It doesn't think the way we do.'
From mundane to scifi in the space of a few lines.

>>10964874
This question has been asked thousands of times and the answers always end up being some variation of "magic makes society wide technological progress impossible, it's a field that offers the most to societies most gifted."

Guy wants to fly, he can either:
>spend years studying wings and kites, hoping to a have a brother interested in the same thing.
>get into magic and learn a flight spell.

Also unlike science a talent for magic gives immediate social prestige.

>>10964225
Are you the black library hopeful anon?

If so, hows your sample going?

Monthly Reading Anon here, I won't be here for the NEW THREAD so I'm going to call an end to the voting now. Roadside Picnic and Flow My Tears have been tied for like half the fucking day so I'm simply going to decide that Flow My Tears is the winner. It've been in the lead most of the time and was also the runner up in last months poll. Cheers.

>>10961263
I’d have liked something with the leech lords.

>>10964020

>>10963757
>>10963770
ty my guy

>>10964020
Randevu with rama, the Andromeda strand

>>10950190
Fritz Leiber, especially Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.

Please recommend me some good cyberpunk not written by William Gibson or Neal Stephenson.

The more over the top, adrenaline-fueled intensity it can pack in without losing that feeling of humanity, the better.

I've already read Vurt.

>>10964020
Gregory Benford. Legit astrophysicist who writes as a hobby.

>>10964246
You're quoting Bloom.

>>10965788
the text has become a meme already.
>wht did you fucking say to me...

>>10960426
reading Shallan was really fucking tough since I actually have DID, Sanderson didn't do his research at all and it just made it come across as mental health pandering

>>10960570
Ending was disappointing imo

>>10961686
i read machine translated web novels all the time but even i am not sure if i should bother reading past TWoK after the whole super saiyan in the skies thing. Does it get more anime than that?

>>10965781
Altered Carbon if you haven't read it already, also River of Gods and The Dervish House by Ian McDonald are pretty good.

>>10964020
literally Greg Egan I don't think anybody can out HARD him

>>10966021
You can't even imagine how anime the Oathbringer climax got
At least it is GOOD anime this time around like the climax of the first book or that scene were Kaladin saves Adolin when he gets tricked into dueling multiple guys with shardblade

>>10965364
boo!

>>10966266
>Kaladin saves Adolin when he gets tricked into dueling multiple guys with shardblade
Two books in and Kaladin already mogged EVERYBODY

>>10965854
Yeah i thought this too, seemed way too easy in the end. Also Valyn just running off with out saying anything irritated me.
>>10965016
I'm still not sure whether Adare was supposed to be intentionally unlikeable, or she just ended up being a cunt.

>>10952759
>Shallan in Oathbringer

They don't stop coming. You are about to encounter some of the most mind numbingly boring character drivel chapters ever. Half way through Oathbringer I would literally stop reading when a Shallan chapter came up. Sanderson likes to bludgeon you in the head with this mental instability schtick until you are left keeled over on the floor bleeding out your ears. They're fucking awful and would leave me exasperated when I should be enjoying myself as I've just finished reading an interesting Dalinar or Kaladin chapter, but no, all of these feelings are destroyed by the realisation that I now have to struggle to through another Shallan chapter.

I also can't describe how much I want to hit people who say Shallan is their favourite character.

why is Sabriel considered a young adult book

>>10966611
Reading her perspective was annoying because she was such a knowitall cunt but in hindsight it's kind of funny how she managed to nearly ruin everything largely through her arrogance

>>10964020
John C. Wright does pretty well. His The Golden Oecumene and Eschaton Sequence series.

>>10964874
There's plenty of regions that could conceivably have been stuck at medieval tech for thousands of years if not for western europe shaking things up. You just need a slightly lower average IQ. Lower it enough and you get the primitive kangdoms of africa, stagnant til the end of time

>>10967148
Also religion
Christianity is the base for all scientific thought because it rejects superstitions & asserts the world is created by 1 God according to laws/rules/etc

So all the early scientists were devout christians who sought to understand God by understanding the world.

>>10966737
why wouldnt it be? Because it's good?

25yo. Currently reading pic related for the first time. Color me impressed!

>>10967611
This isn't your blog.

>>10967638
You mean 4chan isn't a semi-solipsistic echo chamber?

>>10961499
Will Wight house of blades series.
Anime in prose.

>>10962616
Not autistic enough to care.

>>10963449
The tv show didn't even do the fox rape with a literal soul sucking dick.

Opinions on Greg Bear?

Linking New Thread because the New OP is a faggot
>>10967480
>>10967480
>>10967480

>>10967611
I fucking love that book