/lit/ - Literature

>>12335944

Previously:


>>12300038
>>12284550

*sigh* /v/ tourist here

Are The Witcher books worth a look?

Compare Tolkien's and Grossman's works in terms of their worldbuilding. In reductive terms, Tolkien's strategy entails introducing the reader into a robust and predefined world, throwing them headfirst into a fantasy word-salad of names and places and historical events. Grossman, on the other hand, guides the reader gradually into the worlds of Brakebills and Fillory, organically developing his fantasy landscape through the narrative eyes of a protagonist as ignorant as the reader.

Which technique do you value greater? Could The Lord of the Rings have benefited from a slower pacing?

>>12335944
Hey OP, when the next set of voting rolls around, can you leave Earth Abides and the other top one on the docket perhaps? Both sounded real interesting to me, I'd still like to do a monthly read on them since they were also so close to winning.

>>12335953

Did you play Witcher 3 at all? The books are good, but Charles Dance tells you a major spoiler for them as soon as you finish White Orchard.

If you read the books before (re)playing the games you'll realise 3 is pretty much a nonstop fanservice machine, and you'll get a lot more out of it if you're constantly going "oh, it's HIM". I really hope you haven't played 3 because it is so much better if you can buckle down and enjoy a lot of it as books fanservice.

One thing you will notice about the books is the lore is different and better. Especially in W3 where CDProject conflated Sapkowski's Alder lands with a Narnia style winter world in some very dodgy ways which gave us the utterly dire ending/resolution of the game. You'll find the books riff on the mythological canon whereas games 2/3 riff on the books alone, which makes the worldbuilding fairly weak.

If you enjoyed the banter in the games, you'll find it's there and better in the books.

Read them, and in order.

>>12335987
Never played the games.

Guess I'll read them. Thanks anon :)

Will 2019 be the year THe Doors of Stone comes out, bros?

>>12336021
get out

>>12335956
No.

what do you do when you lost interest when you already read half of the book? i don't want to make dropping books a habit but it feels pointless to just continue reading

>doesnt post link on the old thread

>>12335953
>*sigh*

>>12336152
Why so mean?

>>12336021
Honestly, I hope so. The other books aren't the pinnacle of literature, but this is /sffg/ so arguments of literary merit kind of go out the window. They were easy, enjoyable reads that make for good conversation even with people who don't read much.
"Oh you like Harry Potter? That's cool, you should check out these books; they're kind of similar in structure, but might appeal to you on a different level than HP now that you're older."

>>12336260
There's nothing wrong with dropping a book. If reading it becomes a chore then there's no point in continuing.

>>12336314
Personally I like the background stuff more than the foreground about Kvothe's education at the University.

I picked up Hyperion and A Wizard of Earthsea from a thrift store recently, read through them both on NYE. That was a day well spent, and I'll probably grab the other books in those series when I have the opportunity.
Why don't we get SF/F like that anymore? It seems like almost everything in that category now is less speculative adventure, more adapted television script that couldn't finance production by a major studio.

>>12336321
I agree, the world and setting are interesting enough to capture attention just as much as, if not more so than the immediate story, and I think that's part of what makes then good "gateway books" for people who don't read much.
Instead of just being given a list of events occurring by a disinterested narrator, you find yourself thinking about a well-fleshed-out fantasy setting.

>>12336341
And once you get into it, even the frivolous parts of book 2 start being interesting.

>>12336318
i just read spoilers and im glad i didn't continue

>>12335944
redpill me on Roadside Picnic

>>12336518
Have a turquoisepill instead. It lowkey slaps

Use this in the next Thread

>Previously:
>>12335944
>>12322234
>>>12300038
>>>12284550

>>12335953
There's a better series.

>>12335956
>fantasy word-salad
Whatever critic wrote this really was a speed-reader.

>>12336260
I drop a lot of books.

>>12336326
The specter of the camera haunts the imagination of this generation, they write for the eye and the eye alone.
https://bondwine.com/2013/01/14/death-carries-a-camcorder/

>>12335956
fuck off

>>12336326
People still write books like that, but they end up getting <10 reviews and no one ever finds out about them. Book awards just cover whatever agenda they like best at the time, right now and for the long foreseeable future it's lefty stuff like feminism and lgbt. Quality is in the background.

>>12335956
>>12336158
>>12336652
Stop assuming I'm attacking Tolkien. I'm not. I made a thread with a similar post and was suggested to raise the discussion in /sffg/.

>>12336685
I'm not assuming it's an attack. I'm assuming you either haven't read Tolkien or don't know what fantasy word salad is. That's actually a widespread criticism of post-Tolkien fantasy, while many people find actual Tolkien unbearably slow and even recommend the first chapter be skipped - which it shouldn't be, because it organically develops the fantasy landscape. And then the world is seen through hobbit protagonists as ignorant as the reader.

>Magic is just ancient science

What books do this really, really well?

>>12335944
>What was the best /sffg/ book you read in 2018?
1: Mists of Avalon
2: Too Like the Lightning
3: Gormenghast Trilogy
>What is your most anticipated book of 2019?
Eh, Winds of Winter? I'm not really waiting for anything special.
>Are you glad A Scanner Darkly won Monthly Reading? Why or why not?
I enjoy Dick and I have not read it so why not.

>>12336866
>2: Too Like the Lightning
Premise sounds interesting, is it that good that you rate it over Gormenghast? What about the other two books in the series?

>>12335953
It's entry level fantasy,if you are new to reading sff they are pretty good.

>>12335953
Short stories are good, the novels got boring quick

>Rand does something cool at the end of a book
>Immediately goes back to being a bitch in the next one
Does this go on forever?

>>12335944
is botns the greatest meme book of the 2018?

>>12336866
> 3: Gormenghast Trilogy

Did you get through the third book? I intend to finish it someday, but it's quite another beast compared to the other two (which are great).

Because part three is Gormenghast without Gormenghast.

>>12336885
>...is it that good that you rate it over Gormenghast?
I'd rate both Titus Groan and Gormenghast over TLtL. It's only because of Titus Alone that I rate TLtL over the trilogy.

>>12336936

This is why I haven't bothered to read the third book yet. Second book ended perfectly and had decent closure on just about everything with a great ending.

>>12336326
Becasue SFF is dead son,

>>12335944
>>What was the best /sffg/ book you read in 2018?

Finished the Hyperion Cantos. One of the best series I've read.

>>What is your most anticipated book of 2019?

I never manage to keep up with current publications. Always nice to pick up pointers in this thread.

>>Are you glad A Scanner Darkly won Monthly Reading? Why or why not?

Read it on holiday last year. Interesting and worth the read. I want a scramble suit.

>>12336935
It's a great book period. People just meme it being super deep and complex when really it's a pretty straightforward read.

>>12336990
It's straightforward in the sense that it has no plot basically and is just wankery for the most part that you can ignore.

Do you fags used this site?
https://www.fantasticfiction.com/

>>12335944
>best /sffg/ read in 2018
Snow Crash was a lot of fun, really enjoyed it and still have a thing for cyberpunk

>most anticipated
falls in line with previously mentioned, but Gibson's "Agency" has me excited

>A Scanner Darkly
I'll probably read it, Dick is always good and haven't read any of him in a few years

>>12335968
>i only read books when I know other people are reading them too
If you want to read earth abides then fucking read it. These literal autist in this general is getting unbearable.

>>12337069
rude anon. I can read it in my own time, but it's fun to read things with people and talk with them together.

I'm sorry my comment offended you so much but get a fucking grip

>>12336935
It was memed here before 2018 newfag. Try 2014.
We had our own version of abatap in sffg, that was obsessed with wolfe. He actually wrote a book breaking down botns and other wolfe books.

>>12337075
You offended me because you have literal autism, and yall autist are pissing me off with your stupid posts and questions. please make a fucking trip so i can filter you.

>>12336936
>Did you get through the third book
I did. It was not bad but it was really fucking strange and it was not like the two first at all.

>>12337116
the only autistic person itt is you. Please consider getting help and stop shitting up the thread if your only contribution is whining

Has anyone here read the Baroqur Cycle series by Neil Stephenson? I'm about done with the second volume. While not SFF, I thought some here would be familiar with it because of his other books.

It is so fun to read, especially since it's a period of history I wasn't particularly interested in or familiar with before reading it.

It's primarily told in two story lines. One is high adventure, piracy, assassinations, alchemy, bandits, etc...and the other is the intrigue and goings-on in France, England, and the Netherlands during the time of Louis XIV, King James II, Isaac Newton, Lebeniz, etc. Lots of stuff about cryptography, natural philosophy, and currency/trading (which may sound boring but Stephenson makes quite absorbing and fun to read and learn about).

I'd highly recommend it, especially to anyone who's read his other stuff. Family history about the Shaftoes and Waterhouses especially are fun to connect to Cryptonomicron.

Anyway, have a good new year lads.

>>12337054
>Snow Crash
See >>12337171

Why is old school SF so dry and dumb?

>>12337190
People before the internet didn't have souls.

>>12336260
i even stop reading good books

>>12335956
this isn't even correct. bilbo's adventure is sequential and frodo takes far too long to get out of the shire. both are ignorant protagonists who need to be told what's actually going on.
pad out LOTR? jfc no.

>>12336935

I got memed by /lit to read it in 2014 so no.

>>12337187
Haven't read the Baroque cycle yet, don't know if I will. I like Stephenson and all but sometimes he can be a bit much. Cryptonomicon was good albeit a slog after page 600

Any sci fi about impending water/resource crises?

>>12337309
The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi should be right up your alley.

>>12337337
I read The Wind Up Girl by this guy and it was pretty enjoyable.

>>12337171
Read it ages ago and loved it, all that schlocky action with renaissance tech padding it. I got lost with the economics stuff in System but it had an incredibly satisfying ending.

>>12337158
>you are an autist who can't read unless you know someone else is reading the same book
>no u

>>12336314
>>12336341

I love them as something of wide interest to talk about when you tell co-workers, relatives etc you are into sci-fi and fantasy is nice. Even though I think, e.g., Brandon Sanderson is really bad it kills me inside to rain on people's parades.

Rothfuss is a nice happy medium that is still reasonably enjoyable that you can turn conversation to.

>"Oh you like Harry Potter? That's cool, you should check out these books; they're kind of similar in structure, but might appeal to you on a different level than HP"

God I love being able to do this over coming across like the gatekeeping autist I know I am at heart.

>>12337557
sneed

>>12337565
>sneed
I lift though. So try again.

Is there an artificial intelligence / robots list? Preferably one that has a mix of new and older books.

I loved Permutation City, The Lifecycle of Software Objects and a few others I can't remember of the top of my head.

>>12336260
If I want to drop a book I skip to the last chapter and speed read it. If the ending is interesting at all I skim over the part I skipped.

>>12337565
based

>>12337104
>He actually wrote a book breaking down botns and other wolfe books.
Do you have a link to the book?

>>12337563
Unfortunately now they're making movies out of the books. I love Sam Raimi, but I dont love what movies do to the reader bases of book series.
For the time being, when you talk about the books it's usually with someone who read and enjoyed them. Once the movies are out, I'll have to move them to the list of books that completely kill my interest in the person I'm talking to.
Nothing makes me unmatch tinder grills faster than asking what books they're into because they "love reading" and having a list of movies and TV shows regurgitated into my DMs

>>12337724
It's Marc.

What's the plot of name of the wind? I know there's a guy called kvothe and apparently he's really awesome and what the author wishes he was or something. And he goes to school. And has sex with people. I've never heard anything about the story.

>>12337778
How could you possibly make the Kingkiller reader base any worse? They have a worse case of hubris than the BotNS crowd, and without a book to back it up.

>>12337799
that's the whole plot,a cool badass college guy fucking thots

>>12337813
I'm talking more about the ability to use the series as a talking point. When a reasonable person has read a book, they can talk about what they did and didn't like about it.
When a tinder thot says she loves a book, she watched the movie and then bought the book as an Instagram prop.
When an assblasted /lit/izen derides a book, its because they feel like they have to hate everything vocally to fit in :^)

what's the closest thing to a hacker prior to the invention of the computer?

>>12337915
Train robbers

>>12337915
A thief.

>>12337915
a safe cracker

>>12337915
Dudes that listened to enemy radio chatter.

>>12337915
Depends on what you mean by hacker. Everything from mechanics to alchemists.

>>12337847
You don't need a movie for that. A book being popular is more than enough to gather a huge following of retards who fetishize it and show it of on social media. Ironically enough Kingkiller is already a good example of this.

>>12337915
Scamming, forging signatures, identity theft etc. Most "hacking" is social engineering anyway and that have been around for millions of years.

Stop using this trash genre as a form of escape. Face life four square and grab the bull by the horns.

(You) <--- You gonna have to get it directly from my post. Go on then.

>>12335944
>>What was the best /sffg/ book you read in 2018?
Senlin Ascends (The Books of Babel #1) and the sequel Arm of the Sphinx
This picaresque journey through the terrifyingly wonderful Tower of Babel just felt like a breath of fresh air to me and was a joy to read. I found the setting unique and I liked the main character, the bullshit he has to go through, and how he develops because of it, and develop he does.
>>What is your most anticipated book of 2019?
By extension it might be The Hod King , the third in the trilogy.
>>Are you glad A Scanner Darkly won Monthly Reading? Why or why not?
No opinion.

>>12337257
>i even stop reading good books

>>12337936
this

>>12335956
Grossman is unironically vile as a writer and a person. I'm not going to give my opinion about his writing because he doesnt deserve discussion beyond planning to lynch him for writing so poorly.

>>12337915
Bank-note forgers and elaborate con-men, gaming the system.
Such as the main character of Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, a book so good it is now an enjoyable made-for-TV movie.

>>12337915
cryptographer

12337993
>fishing for yous
Not giving you any.
I face life everyday. That is why i need to read and unwind to ease my suffering of interacting with normies at work. Tell that to people that don't go out at all.

books with this kind of feel?

>>12338618
Perdido Street Station

why can't people just be nice to each other /sffg/? Why can't we just not turn into a dystopia?

>>12336682

Maybe we need a "best totally unknown sci-fi" thread. The pipeline is really broken - not many non-leftist review sites and nobody's digging around in the uncharted books looking for the gems. All the big sites are pushing their friends or the latest book Scalzi spent two weeks writing. Everybody else is plowing through the classics instead of sifting through the new unknowns.

>>12338618
>>12338753
This.

so I picked back up second volume of rifters after a couple weeks worth of break and it's somehow more readable now but still not as good as starfish, by a large margin

Memes aside, is this a good series?

>>12338852
Why sift through new stuff when you can spend your whole life reading great books and never touch anything made after 2000?

>>12338888
nice quads
I'm not from the anglosphere and I don't think I ever read a book written by a black person inb4 Shakespeare

>>12338898

That's the problem, isn't it? But I liked Blindsight (2006), even though Watts is some psycho leftist who advocates murdering police officers at random. Would I have tried him out if somebody else on here didn't take the plunge? Nope. I try a few newer scifi books a year and the crap ratio is insanely high, but I can't be the only one doing that.

>>12338906

>>12338906
wait...what?

>>12338928
I separate author from his work

tell me guys is The Three-Body Problem some new meme or is it worth reading?
I keep hearing from dumb people how great it is.

>>12338954

3 body problem is actually pretty good. Kind of a weird style but that's one of the few recent Hugo ones I've liked.

>>12338840
Read Masters of Rome and I'll be nice to you.

>>12338954
It's a meme.
Anyone saying it's good is a chinese.

>>12338939
>>12338951
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5wbvj4 from 24:30 if you're pressed for time
I was making a joke

>>12338980
Oh yeah I remember them. Gotcha.

>>12338980
I reacted more or less to your "I'd never read anything not written by a person of colour"

>>12339006
oh I've read books by authors of colour, just can't recall any blacks

If I enjoyed the "Final Empire" trilogy will I enjoy "Wax and Wayne"?. Mistborn wasn't perfect by any stretch, but it was a fun read and I appreciated that at the very least Sanderson knew exactly where the story would conclude (as there were an abundance of big clues in the first two books)

>>12339157
Yes. It’s a much more polished mistborn

>>12339185
That sounds nice. Does it get angsty like book 2/3 did? The worst parts was of the series was Vin/Elend/Sazed moping, even if Sazed paid off

>>12339157
it's literally a sequel

I like fantasy that's bleak but not entirely hopeless, and violent.

Should I start into David Gemmell's stuff first, or Glen Cook's?

>>12338954
I bought it a couple years ago before the hype because the cover looked interesting to me at the bookstore. I'm a sucker like that.
But I actually enjoyed it a lot, and it had some very neat scenes that still stick out in my brain.
Haven't read any of the others because they weren't translated at the time, but I'll probably pick them up before the Amazon series comes out.

Have you ever read a book that was the first in a series, and it seemed like everything was resolved, but then in the middle of the wrapping up portion while everything is all comfy, something from the beginning comes back and a bunch of pieces fall into place in a way that make your blood turn cold, and the whole thing ends on a dark note that makes you feel like you need to know what happens next?

Is there a term for this?

>>12339669
I haven't but it's called a cliffhanger.

>>12339687
Oh, come on. I'm sure you've read a book with a cliffhanger.

I meant specifically the switch-up where you think it's resolved and any sequels will be a new adventure or something, and THEN there's a twist that alters the tone of the whole series from then on, with a cliffhanger.

>>12339699
Sequel bait/hook?

>>12339699
They are all called cliffhangers. And it pisses me off when authors do this. They try to bribe you to pick up their sequel.

I started recently dropping books that look like the author is trying to stretch a one book story over multiple volumes.

>>12338888
Yeah its decent, nice worldbuilding and the magic system is very well done

>>12338888
quadroons

>>12338888
The books are pretty decent but you can guess the writer's politics pretty easily. Jemisin has a pretty obvious chip on her shoulder too, if you;ve read any of her interviews.

>>12339669
I get what you're talking about, but I can't think of any specific term for it. It's a twist of some kind, sort of like the ending of The Usual Suspects, where the mastermind behind the whole thing only gets revealed at the ending, as he walks out. I think I'd call it an "Undercut Ending" or something like that. It yanks the carpet out from under your feet and leaves you there at the end, without necessarily promising more to come like a cliffhanger would.

>>12338888
The second person narration is bad.
The fumbling attempts to include entire diversity crew were kinda sad.
Jemesin has writing talent, but squanders it.

>>12339876
>>12340029
What about the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and its sequels?

>>12340038
I've only read the Broken Earth trilogy and after that am not inclined to read more, sorry.

>>12338954
>The Three-Body
I'm actually halfway through the second book.
The writing on the first one is not great, but it has some cool stuff. The "scale" bullshit every autist memes about is actually good and the plot manages to be intriguing. The dialogue is not exactly brilliant (tons of exposition) but the characters feel "alive" or whatever.

>Problems:
- American edition has a note by the author where he boasts of having a good sense of scale for things no matter how big or infinitely large. He is bragging about being literally autistic in a book read by millions of people.
- Book 2 is translated by a different guy. It has too many Americanisms. The plot has become pretty fucking dumb as well as the pacing.
- An ex-president of the United States literally quotes Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

>Traitor Son Cycle

Ok, fuck you anon who recommended me this series. Seriously, fags, trans, and all manner of nonsense out the ass suddenly in book 4? What a waste of time.

>>12340091
>fags, trans,
Imagine being such a little bitch you can't handle the mere mention of entire groups of people who don't hurt anybody.

>>12340101
Look here, I am not putting up with the eyesore of s/he and hir pronoun bullshit.

>>12340112
>s/he
>hir
Oh, I didn't know it was like that. Carry on, then.

>>12340091
Thanks for the warning, lol. I read The Red Knight when it came out but I felt it was just too gimmicky to read anything that would come after.

Avoid the Riverside series.

What's the most intense, visceral, drags-you-by-your-throat, action-packed fantasy book you know?

I know Sanderson is pretty controversial around here, but if I am going to check his work out for myself, where do you recommend starting?

Also, I remember seeing something about his books sharing a multiverse or something? If so, any images that show how that comes together?

>>12340193
The battle scenes in The First Law.
Not fantasy but Snow Crash. It's one of 3 books I wished I could read while high on coke.

>>12340243
You have my attention. What are the other two books you wished you could read while high on coke?

I want to write a series but my only decent ideas are solo stories with sequel hooks tacked on that can't actually evolve into anything

>>12340248
The Fall - Camus
Coin Locker Babies - R. Murakami

>>12340236
way of kings

>>12340258
Nothing wrong with one-off books, anon. Sometimes short and sweet is the best.

what science fiction novels most closely resemble pic related?

>>12340305
Rendezvous with Rama

>>12340258
I mean Mistborn did it and normies jerk off to it

>>12340305
The Night's Dawn trilogy, but it's also Hamilton at his worst, so I would not recommend it.

>>12340331
Is Mistborn worth a look?

>>12340342
ehhhh, imo the magic system and the world overcome the angstyness at times.

At the very least the series was well thought out and there were some fun fights. Its and easy read and not particularly long

>>12340305
The Book of the Long Sun

>>12340357
>easy read and not particularly long
Sounds about what I'm looking for. Thanks.

>>12339876
>oh boy someone recommended me a new book
>let me go and do extensive research on the author
>let me comb through their interviews and read their blog instead of fucking reading the book
Only fucking pol reads the author when they are recommended a book.

>>12340101
>who don't hurt anybody.
Im sick and tired of people behaving like faggots and trannies are saints. They are human beings, therefore they rape, murder and abuse their spouses like everyone else. Stop putting them above humanity as some embodiment of peace. Not because you take it in the ass means you're better. You are trash like the rest of us.

>>12340305
Titan by John Varley. It's p good.

>>12340193
Vurt by Jeff Noon. It's written in cyberpunk style but all of the special effects are magic.

>>12340236
Look in the last thread. I ain't typing that shit over again.

>>12340236
All his books share a universe, but its not major

Try Mistborn or Way of Kings

>>12340507
Hey man, enough warning signs in the author and you're guaranteed to be disappointed in their books eventually, it's pretty infuriating to get invested in a series and have the author sperg out down the line.

My first encounter with furfag shit was 15 or so books into a series I was reading as a kid, I always check authors out at least a little.

Of course, there's also not wanting to financially support someone you disagree with but whichever whatever.

>>12337171
I haven't read them but my mom loves them

>>12340507
I read the book before I knew anything about the author. Like I said, you can GUESS the author's politics by READING THE BOOK. I GUESSED what N.K Jemisin was about after I READ The Fifth Season, then did some research and confirmed what I had suspected.

>>12340305
Try out Eon by Greg Bear

>>12340652
Based guessing man

>>12340236
I'm going to have to make an image for this considering how often it comes up.
Emperor's Soul into Warbreaker and you're done. If you want more, wait 5 or so years until Sanderson have finished the first "half" of Stormlight Archives and come back and ask if he managed to pull it off.

>>12340236

>>12340302
>>12340258
You could also aim for distinct short stories or novelettes set in the same world. That works well if you have a couple of interesting technological, sociological, and/or political premises that can serve as the elements of not-quite-like-our-own-world for your stories.

For example cloning being common and accepted; religious aspects alien to us, yet convincingly brought; or humanity driven from earth, living exclusively in space.

If you have good ideas for such sci-fi aspects that can serve as a catalyst for a story, where you explore the consequences of them from various angles. You are free to reuse them if your collection of stories manages to hint at a coherently build-up world readers want to read more about, even though your stories themselves are one-offs with a solid ending.

>>12340567
The whole Titan, Demon, Wizard trilogy is damn good. Way too few people read Varley's books.

The only work of fiction I know of that has a band playing Sousa's The Liberty Bell.

>>12340091

Totally agree. The pronoun nonsense was extremely off-putting. The book itself though was pretty shit compared to the previous ones.

>>12340091
You should have clued in as to where this series was headed the moment the author introduced doctor rabbi for no apparent reason other than to have an excuse for verbally fellating uncircumcised (((Yahadut))) cock.

>>12340332
I really loved the Cyborg Science vs. Biotech Science vs. Space Demon Ghost Bodysnatchers premise, but the series flows like tar, and ends on a literal Deus Ex Machina, i.e. a fucking machine that snaps their fingers and puts the plot to an end. wtf.
I think each book took me like half a year to read.

Since people are talking about Hamilton, I just finished Salvation and man it was a struggle. I enjoyed Nights Dawn more than this crap and it's so far below Pandoras Star it's not even funny.

>>12341337
>he expects to finish cosmere books in 2072
>thix is not certain seeing as he keeps adding more and more YA non cosmere books
I think I'm burnt out on Sanderson. I'm no longer a foaming at the mouth fan. I will die before he finishes anything I want to read.

>>12341753
>I enjoyed Nights Dawn more than this crap
Surely you're exaggerating, there's no way it's that bad

Hey guys, im going to post a wildcard here since i dont know if this deserves it´s own thread. While i was in middle-school, i read a book that stuck with me somewhat and lately i´ve been reminiscing and thought about reading it. Spoiler alert, i forgot the name and most of the story. All i can remember are some very vague points. What little i can remember, takes place near the end of the book ( i think ).
The protagonist group travels on a large ice-sheet-mountain type of thing (think of the wall but the escalated area that´s high up continues towards the north like a giant glacier) and at the end of this giant glacier is an elevator/staircase to this forgotten or ancient spidertown. Somewhere along the way to evil spider capital, they end up on a giant rock surrounded by spideys and fight for their lives, one of them might die there. Their ultimate quest in the story is to light a flame or to grab an amulet or something from the ancient spidertown to repel evil or something. I know its all very vague but can you try to help me?

>>12341995
BotNS

any books with incredibly wealthy villains like xizor in star wars?

>finally fall for the chronicles of amber meme
>it was worth it
>all of the other amber memesters are gone now
>No friends

>>12342011
I tried googling it but couldn´t find any mention of spiders. Could you give me the name of a particular book in the series or something like that?
Also thanks alot mate

>>12341995
Kinda reminds me of the Dark Reflections books by Kai Meyer.
I remember barely anything and I originally read them in german, but it involves a young girl going to a spider-populated hell to solve something. Lots of Sphinxes, magic mirrors, mermaids and shit, too.

Or it might be His Dark Materials. First book ends on an interdimensional portal on some glacier or something. No spiders iirc though.

So I'm halfway through The Eyes of the Overworld after reading The Dying Earth and holy fuck this is great, Vance's prose is really something to admire for sure. I like his restrained style, but when he goes to describe something, the image he paints is really easy to picture.

But the clear highlight is just what a piece of shit Cugel is, I love it. Just finished the 3rd chapter. Spoiler tags since I know people are reading it too right now

>Cucks some guy out of his magic eyes
>tries to cuck somebody out of ruling a land
>sells some thot for information
>rapes another thot
>dooms a town to an ancient curse
>still has gained nothing at all

Personally i'm enjoying this more than The Dying Earth, but I feel it's apples and oranges.

>>12338968
Your Throne of Glass shilling was less annoying than this.

>>12341920
He'll die before it's finished too.

>>12340507
Anon the entire trilogy is a screed against a world of racial oppression. I learned this by reading them.

>>12340507
>read the ender series
>a gay cuck falling in love with an alien queen, and later a bunch of portugese settlers learning to coexist with a tribe of matriarchial guro-fetishistic pigmen, an insect hivemind queen, and the personification of the internet
>author is a hardcore mormon republican racist
mfw

Is the book of the new sun really as good as its praised to be? Every "10 ten best fiction series" I have seen has the series rated higher than Tolkiens works on a consistent basis, I'm curious if it's worth the read and I'm gathering opinions before I decide to take a dive into it.

>>12342582
Nope, it's just pretentious wankery.

>>12342589
Can you give me an example of this?

>>12342634
Here's a criticism someone wrote of it that hits the nail on the head:
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3833655&pagenumber=45#post489395216

>>12340507
i actually go a step further, if the author has had any association with WB/Disney/Google/Micosoft/Apple and many more like coca-cola, etc etc. up to and including all products and companies they own and operate, i just ignore the author completely.

this goes for musicians too.

>>12335944
Hello I am a noob here and usually only read nonfiction. I want sci-fi that will make my years of studying philosophy and history worthwhile. I have already consulted the charts, I'm not quite satisfied with my results.

>>12342674
what?

>>12342674
Blindsight.

>>12342674
>my years of studying philosophy and history worthwhile
I have some bad news fren

Has anybody read Fire & Blood? Opinions?

>>12342582
BotNS is not really comparable to anything Tolkien wrote, but it is as good as people say.

>>12342039
just like Random, poor guy

>>12342674
>philosophy
The Book of the New/Long/Short Sun
Terra Ignota
You could also look into Philip K. Dick, Kurt Vonnegut and Arthur C. Clarke.

>>12342552
I have no doubt that OSC is so far in the closet he's finding a Jesus allegory in the form of a lion, and it remains to be seen if he's acted on his apparent pedophilic lust, knowing what I do about abuse in Mormon communities it's likely he has.

>all of Glen Cook's Black Company books arrived at my local branch today
>tfw only read the first one

I'm going to read them all while shitting

>>12342044
It sounds like you're being memed

What are some good fantasy or science fiction books with monster girls in them?

>>12343429
Quintara Marathon

Just finished pic related. Really hard sci-fi with some very accurate neuroscience. But man, does Peter Watts suck at writing dialogue/monologue! Seriously, all of the characters sound like Mathew McConaughey in True Detective. Absolute cringe!

what's better

>desert fantasy
>desert fantasy (on mars)

>>12343507
Desert fantasy on Mars starring John Carter

is this too gay?

>its established that magic draws from the user's body heat and emotions to create fire with magic properties
>later the mc learns that the same principal allows him to heal with his tears (after his girlfriend catches a bullet with her face)

>>12343507
>desert fantasy in roman egypt

>>12343632
nah make it real edgy

>>12343667
its not supposed to be grimdark though

>>12343632
Has no one ever cried on an injured person before? Because that sounds very unlikely.

>>12343887
Maybe it's like those desert cults.
They collect the tears of people who cry for the injured to show how much they were loved.

Can anyone recommend recent science fiction that hasn't been ruined by political correctness or is full of social justice propaganda? I've been burnt by the last several books I've tried, and it's quite awful.

>>12343632
> emotions do magic
>to heal with his tears
steven universe is a thing already anon.
its not good thing either.

>>12343656
Patrician taste anon.

Because the whole magic as a science is mentioned every now and then. When is it too much? I mean how much "science" do you want to backup the magic, or are you fine with the magic just does whatever because magic

>>12344080
Same mood. Browsing gutenburg for Sci-fi stories is fun. E.E. Smith stories have been entertaining.

Some of the political correct cultural effects is even effecting stuff that's not book stories. Like a video game mod I tried to help contribute to and Github.

This is one of my favorites. Is it pleb tier?

>>12344179
I prefer very little. I want magic to be fantastical and mysterious, not just a way to acquire super powers. It needs rules but they don't need to be scientific ones.

>>12343887
>>12344127

you misunderstand, its not just crying while feeling empathy. spellcasting in this setting is heavily inspired by asian mysticism. Performing magic usually requires some kind of meditation and training in order to not only control ones own mind and body, but their surroundings as well

>>12342642
>SA

>tfw a great series gets ruined by the author because he went full sjw and is now deleting 10 years of work because it's nit fitting his feminist agenda anymore

book 3 will never be

>>12344492
>went full sjw
The first book definitively proves that he never went anywhere. He was always a cuck.

>>12344492
>great series

>background characters all seem to have some kind of past that's never fully explained
>story hints at other goings-on beneath the surface which the narrative is related to but the protagonist will never be fully aware of
Any /sffg/ books with this feel?

>>12343507
>tfw like the desert aesthetic but hate the OOGH AGH IM SO THIRSTY AND EVERYTHING'S HOT
Any way around this? I've been writing up a wasteland sort of setting with a lot of desert-faring races. (Scorpion riders, jackal men, sun-worshipping paladins who stared too long at the Sun) But I just hate the survival aspect.

>>12344505
>forces a teenager to do something that makes him feel uncomfortable
>will not relent until he accepts it
>this is considered a good thing.
Good lord.

>>12344179
It doesn't matter how codified magic is, what matters is how much exposition about systems wank the author shoves down your throat. People don't feel the need to explain internal combustion engines every time they get into a car or spend entire chapters giving an introduction to assembly programming before using their cellphone. The DEFINING FEATURE of wizards and magicians is being incredibly secretive and mysterious. If the fucking barrel makers guild is beating people to death in back alleys for leaking their secret techniques you can bet your ass the dude who can wield the power cosmic isn't going to tolerate even slight hints about how it works to spread around. You'll get mountains of wild rumors and theories, and some of them might have some truth, but anyone in the know either keeps their mouth shut tight or disappears one day.

>>12344551
Well deal with it, that's the whole point of the desert. Might as well write about Antarctica without mentioning the cold. I guess you could just assume everyone there is adapted to it and can survive high heat with very little water, but you're going to have to pay attention to descriptions to make sure you get the point across that it's a desert.

>>12344551
deserts don't need to be hot, just dry.

>>12340305
Culture series, Zone of Thought, Ringworld
>>12344216
dude i'm reading this shit right now. It's written so simply and concisely as opposed to say Ian Banks though similar in style. It's obviously not plebish and if someone tells you so you're probably on /lit.
Just to stir up shit here's some YA fantasy I recommend.

>>12344669
>It's obviously not plebish
I didn't think it was, nor have i ever seen anyone here say it was. I was just checking the general consensus.

why are people so angry about "sjw shit" in fantasy? It's mostly just stuff like having strong women and gay characters. I'm not understanding why people are getting so up in arms about this stuff

>>12345038
I know that as a real life faggot, you don't see the problem. But these authors add the faggot shit in as an afterthought. Instead of building their book around it. It stands out, takes away from the story, and is seen for what it is. Pandering for sjw brownie points.

I read a book about people being trapped in some magical planet by a god. Then the author transports in a tranny drag fag. The author has his protagonists soap box for an entire chapter about how dressing like a literal faggot isn't wrong or harming anyone. When he is done it added literal NOTHING to the book but word count. It affected the story ZERO. Pandering is the worst.

>>12345038
The gay characters are never good. The only good homo I've ever encountered in fiction is Cniaur Urs Skiotha.

>>12345088
And Sulla? Surely you've read masters of Rome?

>>12345038
>people complain about sjw infection on their hobby
It's you isn't? The "person" who always defends this type of shit in every thread? I'm aware of your agenda.

>>12345081
>>12345145

look anons, all I'm trying trying to understand where all this anger is coming from. It's 20-goddamn-19, and sick to fucking death of the retarded socio-political clusterfuck we've spent the last 5 or so years in. We've had 12,000 goddamn years to figure out how to resolve our conflicts as something other than shit-flinging apes, and at this rate nothing is going to fucking get done unless we do it our fucking selves.

Now just calm the fuck down and tell me what the problem is

>>12345203
I explained what the problem is here >>12345081
If you can't read that is up to you.

>>12345203
>faking ignorance
You know, at least it's just you defending this shit, and the rest around here on the right side. We get gender politics irl shoved up our throats, so of course we don't want it on our hobbies. I don't mind gays mind you, but trans and feminists I despise. Well, actually, I pity trans people, they are mentally ill and half of them kill themselves when they stop passing so, fuck it. Also, I hate faggots but like gays, if you don't know the difference, go watch a pride parade; they are faggots.

>>12335956
Lev grossman is shit, if you like anything he has created you are also shit

>>12338954
It's not a bad read, but don't buy into the hype about how realistic the science is. It starts out hard and you get wet for the hot science penis to penetrate your mind-pussy but then it rapidly detumesces

>>12345081
>>12345221

okay, let's take a step back. You're saying you hate it because it adds nothing to the story, but outside of romance novels how often does straight stuff add the story either? Even trans stuff is just a character trait. I mean, if it's really forced I can understand it getting kind of annoying, but unless they go really over the top it's not really different having a character like flashy clothes or oreos.

>>12345230
anon, I'm not trying to pick a fight. I just want to understand your point of view. Honestly, I'm pissed too, but I'm also tired of getting into this. I just want to do something other than have a flame war

>>12345322
>I just want to understand your point of view
Well know you do, unless you have problems with reading comprehension. I don't want gender politics in my hobbies. Videogames, books, tv shows. Also, except maybe for the Hugo, all other attempts to get woke got poor sales on videgames, or low reviews and cancellations on tv shows. It's a fad, pandering to the really vocal minority, and when it passes people will realize that those that preach tolerance at any price were the real fascists. It's just a matter of time, I'm patient.

Could you recommend me some sci fi books/short stories that are romantic and endearing?

>>12345322
It is forced. That is why I am pissed. If a love triangle or the guys getting with the girl for no reason is in a book too that pisses me off.
Authors feel that you have to add conflict to a story, they just add in some love tiff. The are not skilled enough to pull it off. They write cardboard cutout characters that don't even fit in the story.

Like another anon said. Breaker of Horses and Asses - The Most Violent of Fags was well written in Prince of Nothing. The author had that role for him and it was great. Other authors just pander. Have the person just behave like a literal faggot to show the readers that he has faggots in his book. You know how they make the fag characters stand out? By having them behave like the most obnoxious caricatures of their stereotype available. I have that shit stuff in real like. I don't want it in my fantasy too unless it's well written.

>>12338954
It's written by a person with zero empathy that makes far reaching conclusions about the nature of humanity, life and universe, it has some extremely interesting ideas though and exposes chineese as even worse people than you could imagine (not because of the contents of the book, that is general commie stuff, but rather because they think the book is great.). I hate this book with passion but concepts are really cool, i would say ignore dialogue or don't take it seriously, ignore all of the plot , inevitable physics and measurements unless you are really into that and enjoy whatever else is left.

Reading Spook Country by Gibson right now and its so eerie how he has managed to outline the ambivalence of people being surveilled by world governments, a "civil war" in the states propagated by Russia and even some moments wherein I swear hes talking about vaporwave

>>12341652
True enough it all went downhill pretty quick, but the faggotron train out of nowhere really pissed me off.

>>12341655
notkikes in noteurope really isn't that big of a deal, had I ever seen this quote by the author I'd have never even glanced at his bullshit work though.

>I wanted to get outside the all-white, all noble comfort zone of 'high' fantasy.

>>12335956
I love The Magicians, but you should shut the fuck up

>>12343078
Don't bother with the last one

Is there any shitty self published sci first on Amazon or wherever else self publisher authors post that's actually good?

I'm not looking for anything deep or whatever just something that isn't retarded.

>>12345038
Because some people aren't interested in reading about that nonsense? It's either the author has an agenda they're trying to push or they're trying to win over a certain crowd. Piss on them through and through whatever their reason.

I wasn’t prepared for Neuromancer to be so dense and brilliant. I honestly feel kind of overwhelmed.

>>12335944
I like the book, lore, world and most side characters but I can't stand the protagonist. Does anybody else think that about this series?

>>12345038
Degeneracy is a serious issue

>>12336518

Non-lit here. Roadside Picnic is one of the few books I managed to finish. I endorse it.

>>12336260

It's the fallacy of sunken cost. Drop it. I drop books that lit would kill me for.

Is there a serious, non-edgy way for a character to show a character producing a healing potion from their own body?

having them cry it out seems juvenile, but having them bleed it seems too edgy. Unfortunately those two seem like the best options since I want healing magic to require empathy in some tangible form

>>12346167
Have them have to cut out a piece of flesh.

>>12346167
Semen

>>12346045
Not really. It's shitty writers who are a serious issue.

I am interested in The Mists of Avalon and The Once and Future King, but I probably wouldn't want to read both.
Which one is better, /sffg/?

>>12345988
pretty common here. Personally, I feel the exact opposite. I can't give two shits about the worldbuilding, but I can relate to Kvothe to some degree.

I also was one of those people who grew up thinking they were the smartest fucker around, and it left me with a really fucked up sense of obligatory ambition, like if I don't become a legend I've disappointed everybody. I get the feeling that Kvothe feels the same way, but unlike me he actually succeeds in making a name for himself. As a result, it's mostly just a power fantasy, but most fantasy is that in some way or another.

>>12346167
Have them fap it out.
The stem cells and proteins in the semen allows for the regeneration and revitalization of wounds.

>>12346200
way too edgy.

>>12346204
no

>>12346167
Why can't there be a bit of chemistry in the middle? You could distill your potion from hair, skin cells, finger nails, whatever.

Sweat? Saliva?
Small drop of blood in wine or no blood at all, just consecrated stuff (like in the Catholic tradition)

I'm hesitant to ask what kind of reader you had in mind for that because it honestly sounds terrible.

>>12346167
Milk it out.
One nipple heals and the other harms.

>>12346235
hopefully, it's just that you're hearing it without context.

The idea is that the MC is supposed to be studying under a sage trying to learn how to make the elixir of life, but there's a reason everyone else isn't immortal. Life can only be borrowed or given away by choice. The sage is using it to borrow enough time to see to it that his grandaughter is cared for, and when she gets shot, the apprentice gives some of himself to save her life

I guess blood is probably best in that case.

>>12336635
My guildmaster in FFXIV reads this shit, how can I convince her to read better books?

>>12346450
fuck her in the ass and call her hermione

>>12346450
>her

Doubt

>>12335944
how do you read multiple books while retaining comprehension? is there a recommended limit? 2 or 3 books? I am reading Way of Kings but I want to try some of the ones in the infographics.

>>12346621
I typically read 2-3 books at a time. One in English, one in my native language and one non-fiction. There's typically no problem with comprehension for me. I also jot down some notes about each book as I read.

>>12346672
you make notes about fiction books too? I never thought about that.

>>12346621
As long as the books aren't too similar and I read from each book every day I don't find it too difficult to read 3-4 books at once.

You know, I think the reason that there's this perception that "SJW bullshit" is a plague in SFF really all comes down to the question of what motivates authors. Like, why aren't you working on your book right now? Because it's not going to fucking sell. Your story's cool, and you're at a point in your life where you could write one of those books you got from the older kids' sections of the school library, if not something better, but you're pretty sure times have changed, right? Who's going to read it? The market's pretty much dead, and it's not even because you have to compete with all the works of the past; nobody reads. Old ladies read romance novels because the real world's leaving them behind. Old men read cuckold porn on literotica. That's it. So we're not writing. You have something to say, but it's either something everyone who isn't a kid "knows already" - even if you just want to encourage them to think about it in a new light, you're going to be put down as childish - or something philosophical. Nobody cares about your philosophy; it's like writing about your dreams. At best, you can write "poetic" enough that the couple people who like poetry are willing to put up with it.

But the people writing the books you hate, hate because they're written by idiots who misrepresent human nature but still get their feet kissed by idiots who agree with them - they have something to say. They don't particularly care if few people read it. The majority of people to them are clowns who "don't get it," like you - so they get a few readers and call it a success and keep doing it. And eventually enough of them get together, and they have a self-sustaining community; they can give out awards to like-minded people and keep it going. And eventually, that's all there is left that's coming out: stuff from little established communities, floating in a pond of shit publishers churn out in desperately trying to play a losing numbers game.

To top it all off, your "modern" success stories are fucking Rothfuss, GRRM, and Sanderson, and they've all been established for years, back before the decline really reached the current bottom. Nobody you know reads anyone else anymore. At best, they read internet posts that are way too long for what they're saying, sticking them out mostly just because they agree already, and they think that's enough mental stimulation, having their views reaffirmed. You think SFF needs saving because there's an ugly crowd gathered around its grave, but the reality is that there's nothing left to save. Fiction is largely dead. The best you can really hope to do is write something in a genre with a community you can slip into - "SJWs" here, "pseuds" in outerlit - and maybe you'll by chance have an impact on someone who picks your book up in an airport because that community slapped a sticker on it. Anyways thanks for coming to my TEDx talk, I've wasted enough time writing this bullshit that I can go to bed now.

>>12346450
>ffxiv
Truly the saddest existence.

>>12346564
No, lots of fat loser women play that game. You can even spend a shitload of real money to get fake married in the game, it's extremely saddening that people waste their lives on it.

>>12347202
tl:dr

>>12336866
>1: Mists of Avalon
Is this actually good?
Some people say it drags a lot and it IS over 800 pages long so I'm a bit wary.

>>12346215
The Once and Future King

>>12344080
Any suggestions? I could really use a nice book for the weekend, job was hell.

>>12344080
>I've been burnt by the last several books I've tried, and it's quite awful.
And which books might those be?

>>12347636
anything written after 2000, i'd wager.

Any books where the protagonists fail to prevent the world from being fucked?

>>12347642
What's with the floating giant babbies? What the fuck is this?

>>12347202
>Your story's cool
>You have something to say
Neither of these things is true.

>>12347642
>this is the future pro-lifers want

>>12347670
Drakengard
Shitty Ps2 game with multiple endings that keep getting worse. That's pretty much the main draw of the game.
I wanna know if there's any books that kicks the readers in the dick like this. Where the heroes don't make it in time. Bonus points if the heroes themselves are despicable as well.

>>12347670
it's a Yoko Taro game

>>12346215
I haven't read Once but I did hate Mists and drop it halfway through.

What's that sci-fi book that starts with a mathmatician guy creating a type of math that can predict the future and predicts the fall of a space empire? (or something like that)

>>12347792
Foundation by Asimov.

>>12347795
Thanks it's gets mentioned on occasion on other boards and I thought I'd give it a try.

>>12344492
>great series

>>12347807
It's pretty good. The mathematics only predicts the actions of humans in groups of billions though.

>>12337171
I was meant to read these and Cryptonomicon during my holidays
they seem intimidating

>>12347344
>Some people say it drags a lot and it IS over 800 pages long
It is not a fast book. However there are not much filler, I never felt like a scene did not advance the story. Worth pointing out is that I also loved Gormenghast, the slowest fantasy book ever written.

>>12335956
>Could The Lord of the Rings have benefited from a slower pacing?

>>12348017
Dumb animeposter

>>12346697
I only read fiction. And I always jot something down about the book, contradictions, dislikes, and what I enjoyed. I then transfer what I wrote to goodreads. This has helped me retain so much details from the books I read.

>>12347202

>>12347641
Look at Mr Reads-a-lot
In the past 18 years he has read everything scifi that was published. If you already read it, why do you need recs from us.

>>12348363
Where's Throne of Glass?

>>12348377
You will burn in hell for recommending people that YA garbage that only little girls read.
I said throne of glass was horrible ya in my private tracker chat, and one of the users privately messaged one of the site's mods to try and get me banned. Dude pm'd me and told me the person wrote a few paragraphs explaining that I should not be able to voice my opinion because they think it's the best book series ever written. He agreed with me that it was utter shit, but just asked me to don't mention it again because he doesn't want another message complaining. Coolest mod I ever dealt with.

>>12348401
damn that's fucking badass

>>12348401
that wouldnt have been mam by any chance?
because i know of one particular mod there trying to not lean into all the hugbox mentality. hes doing a pretty good job of it.

>>12347202

Well, that was depressing.

>>12340507
>actually defending jemisin
The same way you cal call /pol/ we can call redd*t. There's a r/scifi there, why don't you try it.

What is some essential epic fantasy that doesn't read like young adult fiction (aside from LotR)?

>>12348713
>essential epic fantasy
LotR, WoT, ASoIaF, Malazan, Stormlight
>epic fantasy actually worth reading
LotR

>>12348661
Never went to redditch, never will. I wasn't defending jemisin, i was calling out pol for mucking up the general. They don't read any fucking books, but come in here to drop "facts" about authors. Then they post their infographs and screenshots.
We don't discuss authors here, we discuss the fucking books they wrote.

>>12349168
>>12349168

>>12347202
>projecting this hard

>>12348334
thanks, I will do that with org mode.