/sffg/ - Science Fiction & Fantasy General

[Anonymous No.11620816]

Current Edition

>what you read last?
>how is it?
what you reading next?

FANTASY
Selected:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/0935e4cd59/105363.jpg
General:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21328.jpg
Flowchart:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21327.jpg

SCIENCE FICTION
Selected:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/def184ad8f/124507.jpg
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/b44928ae11/114401.jpg
General:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21332.jpg
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21330.jpg

NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books:
>https://imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21333.jpg

SF&F author listing with ratings and summaries:
>http://greatsfandf.com/authors-full-list.php

Previous threads:
>>11609531
>>11602870
>>11599052
>>11590237
>>11583500

[Anonymous No.11620822]

First for Lady a shit

[Anonymous No.11620880]

>>11620816
>what you read last?
Knight of Swords.
>how is it?
One of the author's best.
>what you reading next?
Queen of Swords.

[Anonymous No.11620938]

Reminder that xianxia web novels are novels too.

[Anonymous No.11620948]

>>11620938
if it ain't on good ol' paper it aint a novel

[Anonymous No.11620951]

I honestly don't read much and when I do I'm usually working on my shortlist which consists mostly of classic lit and history. I want to get into /sffg/ recommended stuff but there's too much to choose from and I get overwhelmed and indecisive and never pick anything up.

I'm open to anything that isn't too teen angsty. Just want a solid story written for adults. Sub-genre isn't a big deal, although I do love dystopian future settings and the world-building of a GOT/LOTR. Any recommendations? Looking to pick something up for my holiday next week.

[Anonymous No.11620958]

>>11620951
Sorry mate, this is /lit/'s kiddy day care center. Try elsewhere for adult novels.

[Anonymous No.11621002]

I recently finished up the three standalone novels in the first law world and I want to share my personal ranking of all the books. I think ranking novels in a series can be a fun way to reflect on and revisit a world you enjoyed. I'd be curious to hear others thoughts on the books and their favorites.

1. The Blade Itself: Good introduction to the characters, fun diverse worldbuilding, has a sort of first half of fellowship of the ring vibe to it. I think he takes the whole grimdark edgy theme a bit far but he sets a tone and is consistent with it so if you don't like it in the first book it's not getting any better.

2. Last Argument of Kings: Great conclusion that goes out of it way to invert typical fantasy tropes. It's nice to see how different characters wrap up. Less of a screw you and your favorite character then RR Martin does but still a just rewards. Final battle scene's a bit anticlimactic

3. Before They are Hanged: Drags at times but definitely better than the standalone novels.

4. The Heroes: This is a book written for people who liked Logen ninefingers. If you liked his character you'll like the book, if you didn't you won't. It's really that simple.

5. Red Country: Abercrombie does a Western. The main female protagonist of this book is more obnoxiously edgy than most of Abercrombie's characters. Also the constant religious reflection is over the top. We get it Abercrombie nothing has meaning in your world. The plots all over the place and doesn't make much sense. Feels like this was written to showcase the characters he hadn't touched in the other standalones. Overall I'd say it's not worth reading.

6. Best Served Cold: What a disappointment, especially coming after the high of the original trilogy. Relatively uninteresting characters in an uninteresting story. Also begins the trend of Nicoma Cosca from being an interesting character to being an obnoxious one who really wish would stop being a key plot figure.

[Anonymous No.11621014]

>he rates any of albercromies novels

[Anonymous No.11621031]

>>11620951
I think a fun adult /sffg/ book would be Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel. I quite liked it and I think it's a fun fantasy take in a Dicken's style of writing. I'd caution that the author is indulgent with her world and her wordplay so you might find it drags a bit. I think that's accurate for Victorian novels but not all modern readers have the stomach for it. Things like chapters of smalltalk over teatime. If you read the classics I think you'll find it enjoyable. Do report back if you decide to read it.

[Anonymous No.11621045]

>>11621014
I also have all the Outlander Novels rated and a spreadsheet for the Kinsey Milhone ones :) . I think in my highschool notebooks I probably have both Xanth and Myth Adventure series ranked as well. I'm not too fussed if people think books are from bad or good authors. I enjoy fantasy as fun reads that let you explore interesting worlds or themes.

[Anonymous No.11621234]

>>11621014
Why do you that man?
At least quote the post like a normal person.

[Anonymous No.11621470]

>At least quote the post like a normal person.

[Anonymous No.11621551]

>>11616975
Echopraxia
fuck sake Rorschach/Portia you fucking cunt why you gotta make Burks go and do that shit you piece of fucking shit fuck you cunt

[Anonymous No.11621670]

Any books with a Fallout feel?

[Anonymous No.11621679]

16th for urban fantasy a shit.

[Anonymous No.11621695]

>>11620951
Teen sff is not really that big. As long as you avoid the obvious fantasy YA (mostly are about farming boys/vampires/magic schools), you should be fine with just about anything. Check the OP for recommendations.

[Anonymous No.11621758]

Just finished Ancillary Justice
It was good, should I bother reading the sequels?
I'm probably going to hit up the Southern Reach trilogy now

[Anonymous No.11621796]

Last read:

Price of Fools.

IDK I mean it kept me reading. I liked Jalan and Snori. I like books set in the cold north. I like bloody. But it was just meh to me. Couldn't pinpoint why.

Anything similar to Talion Revenant?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89553.Talion

Read it a long time ago and remember really enjoying it.

[Anonymous No.11621814]

>last read
wheel of time book 1
>how is it?
long, bloated, boring and filled with cliche fantasy tropes. i liked the ending but holy shit, 14 books of this? ill do it.
>what you reading next
maybe the second one maybe some sanderson, who knows.

[Anonymous No.11621851]

>>11620816
>what you read last?
Water Sleeps
>how is it?
Great. Finally some nice information about the origin of the Black Company and the Plain of Glittering Stone, which is a nice concept. Sad about all these dead-tired old men.
>what you reading next?
Soldiers Live, I mean I can't stop now, and I've already started.
>"Soldiers live, and wonder why."

[Anonymous No.11621866]

>>11620816
>>what you read last?
First book of the Black Company
>>how is it?
It's decent. It's got a consistent level of quality above the usual drivel, but at the same time nothing about it really grabbed me the way. I guess I'm a victim of its hype.
>what you reading next
The next book.

[Anonymous No.11621998]

Great idea for a Story.

What if the chosen one finds out he's not actually the chosen one?

Or what if the chosen one is a complete undeserving asshole throughout the whole thing and the book is narrated from the perspective of his lackey?

I'm an ideas guy. Just need to put my ideas into practice.

[Anonymous No.11622003]

>>11621998
Isn't that basically what Prince of Nothing is?

[Anonymous No.11622029]

>>11621998
>I'm an ideas guy.
Why would you speak so badly of yourself?

[Anonymous No.11622035]

>>11621998
What if the Chosen One is an okay guy but just kind of a complete moron and relies on his lackey to actually do all the important jobs, only for the Chosen One to in the end get all the credit anyway?

[Anonymous No.11622050]

>>11621796
>>11621814
>>11621851
>>11621866
Maybe we should just rename this to fantasy general and be done with it. All everyone is talking about is yet another phonebook sized installment of their fav fantasy series or shitting on the author of said series.
It's all so very tiresome.

[Anonymous No.11622054]

>>11622050
Well, why don't you try talk about scifi then? Be the change you want to see in this thread.

[Anonymous No.11622064]

>>11621998
literally babies first subversion
apply yourself harder

[Anonymous No.11622104]

>>11622050
I'm so very sorry we're not talking about the trillionth fucking milSF shitshow.

[Anonymous No.11622124]

>>11622054
I've tried but anything that is not either the current meme topic (like Blindsight) or a snarky one liner seems to be ignored. For every sci-fi post you have 4 or 5 fantasy ones and it's all the same tired shit.

>>11622104
No you are talking about the trilionth fantasy shitshow.

[Anonymous No.11622173]

>>11622050

The past was better. Even if it's fictional past. Why would I want to think about the future, especially when most sf seems to be rather dystopian. Most of us read fiction as a form of escapism. Also you didn't recommend shit or even follow the thread.

[Anonymous No.11622182]

>>11622050
I try to alternate my fantasy with sci-fi somewhat, it's just that I usually seem to read sci-fi books as standalone. And that isn't that much by volume, compared to door-stoppers like the Black Company. There haven't been many sci-fi series that have drawn me back in, with Alastair Reynolds the exception. But he seems to be such a dull figure that he himself garners no discussion and his books aren't so bad as to have people shit on them.
However my fantasy novel will be a sci-fi book in disguise.

[Anonymous No.11622206]

>>11622182
I did that too. I love the older stuff where the two were intertwined, like the old Might & Magic games.

[Anonymous No.11622225]

>>11622173
>The past was better.
>Even if it's fictional past.
>Why would I want to think about the future
There really is no need to bring your personal problems here.

[Anonymous No.11622228]

>>11620951
Vurt by Jeff Noon is dystopian and adult. It’s a stand alone with 2 more related stand alone novels and a short story collection.

[Anonymous No.11622251]

>>11622124
Stop being a pussy and read about them instead :3

[Anonymous No.11622328]

>>11620816
I started reading a few self-published books that got mentioned here a few times.

Dawn of Wonder (The Wakening #1) by Jonathan Renshaw - dropped half way in, I think it's the worst paced book I've read so far. The focus is mostly spent on characters which I'd normally love, but most are just boring cardboard cutout stereotypes, now that I look at goodreads the top rated review is pretty much 100% on the mark. The high user score is probably due to it being a Blood Song ripoff (and a Harry Potter ripoff by proxy but this military school genius shit is becoming it's own subgenre now) which people lap up no matter how bad. I wasn't amazed by Blood Song but this is much worse.

Waldo Rabbit by Nelson Chereta - actually pretty good, the better one by far of the two trashy harems I've read so far (at least there's hints that it will be a harem in the future, he's only got one partner so far and she's great). Unlike Super Sales that gets shilled here all the time and was really boring to me it doesn't take itself seriously and is pretty funny at times, I also liked the characters far more and it had an actual plot in the first book and didn't expect you to wait several installments for some meta-universe crap.

[Anonymous No.11622386]

>>11620816
>what you read last?
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E.Schwab.
>how is it?
I thought it was pretty good, then again I am just a pleb fascinated by any magic system.
>what you reading next?
Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett

[Anonymous No.11622394]

>>11622328
I'm gonna give Waldo a shot but just know I'm holding YOU presonally responsible if it's shit.

[Anonymous No.11622402]

What are some fantastical or out-there depictions of cyberspace?

[Anonymous No.11622418]

>>11622394
I'm not claiming it's some great work but if you enjoy trashy harems already you'll probably enjoy it. Some warning that the editing is kind of bad since even I was able to pick up a few typos and I'm esl and don't really care about them much, it seems to trigger a lot of people here.

[Anonymous No.11622427]

>>11622418
I just came from Super Sales so really as long as the MC has an actual character and actually gets involved in the plot instead of just sitting around while everything works out for 90% of the novel I probably won't hate it too much.

[Anonymous No.11622440]

Reminder the Three Body Problem author's earlier book Ball Lighting is now translated

>>11620415
Yeah, it was to do with one of the Wallfacer's plans to deal with Trisolaris. In the English translation they changed his plan to something which was about as horrific but that didn't hinge entirely on a major plot point from Ball Lightning that English readers wouldn't be aware of.

>>11620792
The translator is the guy who did The Dark Forest rather than the guy who did The Three Body Problem, I don't know if that influenced TBP's prose feeling stiffer than TDF's but nonetheless.

[Anonymous No.11622449]

>>11622427
waldo rabbit is mostly a funny adventure that doesn't take itself too seriously. most of the comedy is situational and the emphasis of the story is on the characters and their motivations.

[Anonymous No.11622460]

>>11622440

[Anonymous No.11622461]

>>11622427
Oh yeah, definitely, the whole premise is that the MC departs on a long quest and is highly devoted to completing it. It's subjective but I like his character, bit too defined in his gimmick which will become obvious when you start reading it but I think it's a fun enough premise that it doesn't get old.

[Anonymous No.11622516]

>>11620816
>what you read last?
Eye of the World
>how is it?
Great as always. I often reread WoT when I'm between new authors.
>what you reading next?
Currently reading Instrumentalities of the Night by Glenn Cook. It's one of those books that bombards you with new information constantly, and I have to gradually piece together the setting and world building concepts as I go by sifting through the barrage of name drops. I really enjoy books like these, it's like solving a puzzle.

[Anonymous No.11622521]

>>11622440
Ken Liu just fucked up the 3BP translation by trying to capture the "essence of Chinese prose" or some shit. His translation of Death's End isn't anywhere near as stilted as 3BP.

[Anonymous No.11622540]

Anyone here read The Lies of Locke Lamora? Is it any good?

[Anonymous No.11622542]

>>11621814
Book 1 of WoT is actually the least bloated in the entire series, almost every single chapter is crammed with foreshadowing and important characterization. I still notice stuff in Eye of the World that I didn't catch before that only becomes relevant several books later. The first 3 books of WoT are all of a similar standard in that, but as the series goes on more and more character points of view are added and more and more side stories are entwined into the narrative until you have huge doorstopper novels where almost nothing happens and characters stay in basically one city the whole time compare to how much happens in the earlier books.

[Anonymous No.11622555]

>>11622540
first one is really enjoyable
second one might depend on how much you like naval stuff
third one is a big step down

[Anonymous No.11622578]

>>11621002
It's weird to me to see people praise Abercrombie's world building because I found it piss poor. Lazy cliches everywhere, pretty much no effort put into fleshing out the locations, and a particularly irritating mishmash of different time periods and cultures that made it nearly impossible for me to figure out what to expect of the world I was in. The whole time I had only a vague sense of what things were like, it was as if characters existing in a fuzzy barely sketched in scene and everything around it was white void except for labeled dots.

[Anonymous No.11622601]

>>11622516
>It's one of those books that bombards you with new information constantly, and I have to gradually piece together the setting and world building concepts as I go by sifting through the barrage of name drops. I really enjoy books like these, it's like solving a puzzle.

I'm having a hard time with that on a Kindle.

[Anonymous No.11622603]

>>11621002
the heroes was my favorite of his works and i appreciated that he packed more action and character development into three days than grrm managed in his last two interminable novels

[Anonymous No.11622607]

How many pages a day do you fellows average?

[Anonymous No.11622624]

>>11622173
>The past was better.

[Anonymous No.11622647]

>>11622328
Try Crimson Queen by Alec Hutson, a very typical fantasy adventure story but I thought it was well executed for what it is.

[Anonymous No.11622666]

>>11622647
Already did, it's my favorite self-published author so far next to Will Wight. When's the 2nd book coming already, it got held up by the cover being late or something.

[Anonymous No.11622718]

>>11622607
between 0 and 30
tending to the lower bound

[Anonymous No.11622738]

>>11622555
I appreciate the reply, thank you anon.
In return I check dem digits

[Anonymous No.11622750]

>>11622607
I don't read often enough but I binge 300-400 pages when I do.

[Anonymous No.11622763]

>>11622601
I've always read physical books so maybe that's impacted my preferences. I don't enjoy reading novels on a screen, I don't find it enjoyable. I associate it too much with college.

[Anonymous No.11622771]

>>11620816
So I just started "Name of the Wind" and was wondering what I'm in for?

I like GRRM's writings for ASOIF, but I also liked Tolkien's "The Hobbit" (although I couldn't get into the LoTR series).

Anything that I should note early on?

[Anonymous No.11622789]

>>11622763
Yeah I get it. The e-book vs physical seems like a no win. I don't want to end up with tons of books to store. But at the same time I don't want to give them away or attempt to sell them which is not worth it.

But the backlight on the Paperwhite Kindle is really nice. But it doesn't feel like the books are yours and I can't quickly look at a map or index of characters

[Anonymous No.11622803]

>>11622771
don't bother reading it
the third book won't ever come out
Rothfuss is too busy crying about Trump and dealing with depression

[Anonymous No.11622816]

>>11622803
I feel like you could say the same about GRRM

But that could just be the fact that he wrote himself into a corner that he can't write himself out of too.

[Anonymous No.11622818]

>>11622666
Last I heard it's still being held up by the cover and he's hoping it'll be ready this month.

[Anonymous No.11622826]

>>11622771
I liked it. I think people get really into it with fan theories and shit. It does leave things hanging in a way that I'm skeptical can be finished in a single book. I think it's a fun read that you will enjoy

[Anonymous No.11622834]

>>11622789
I'm all on kindle these days just because it's convenient. One thing I like about it is I can highlight sentences I find insightful or interesting then they all get saved to one massive document. So every 10 books or so you can check and have a few hundred interesting lines you liked

[Anonymous No.11622849]

>>11622803
>Complain about depression affecting ability to write
>lol just write fucker that's the only way you get it
>Rothshit does it
>"It's ok I can relate ;c"

[Anonymous No.11622879]

How important is it to deplug from the online sphere when writing?

It feels like the distractions are endless. Netflix, Whatsapp, PS4, 4chan etc.

If I lived in the Victorian times this shit would be easy. Today? It's a struggle man.

I'm really thinking about getting rid of all these services so I can focus on writing and reading.

[Anonymous No.11622888]

>>11622879
very important. most writers remove all technology from their vacinity. and when writing on a laptop have no distractions installed.

[Anonymous No.11622890]

>>11622879
The impression I get from reading about the habits of successful writers is that they're not necessarily smarter or more naturally talented, they're just more disciplined with their time management. They set aside time to write everyday and write a fuckton.

[Anonymous No.11622904]

Is an 8000 word short story too much for someone trying to get published for the first time?

[Anonymous No.11622931]

>>11622904
Just check the word count requirement for whoever you're trying to publish to.

[Anonymous No.11623009]

>The lowland conquerers have taken everything from him, or so the composer Amet Emendexte-ilye was taught: prestige, autonomy, wealth, and most importantly, magic. But when one of them steals his fiancee, Amet avenges himself on them all by writing music and giving it away in defiance of the lowland laws. It is a very satisfactory vengeance, or so he thinks, until he discovers the kingdom's royal composer is planning to debut Amet's work—as folk music!
>So he's riding east to set the record straight. But he has no idea how compelling a decadent lowland hermaphrodite can be. And before it's over, this thief of songs may be stealing more than his music....

[Anonymous No.11623029]

>>11621002

[Anonymous No.11623061]

>>11623029
Why are you forcing this meme?

[Anonymous No.11623096]

>>11623061

It's no meme, son.....

[Anonymous No.11623099]

>>11623096
Start Maas posting again, that one was funny at least.

[Anonymous No.11623108]

>>11623096
It's your stupid opinion that you keep spamming on every thread. Give it a break.

[Anonymous No.11623116]

>>11623099
I seriously don't understand how someone who graduated mega cum loud can write "bad" books

[Anonymous No.11623126]

>>11623061
Weird thing is it's not even accurate. Guess a certain amount of ambient autismo shitposting is unavoidable on 4chan.

[Anonymous No.11623146]

>>11623126
That's what bothers me, it's just his shitty opinion. Nobody else agrees, like, for example how everyone agrees Kvothe was a fucking cuck/fedora and that Rothfuss is a fucking walking meme.

[Anonymous No.11623159]

>>11623146

[Anonymous No.11623164]

>>11623108
Gonna "Hulk-out" like the Bloody-Nine, aintcha?!

[Anonymous No.11623169]

>>11623159
>>11623164
Fuck off retard

[Anonymous No.11623174]

what do you think jasnah's pussy taste like?

[Anonymous No.11623176]

>>11621998
Funny thing is that through this sort of shtick people thought they could challenge and turn fantasy tropes on their head, until the shtick became a trope itself.

[Anonymous No.11623181]

>>11623174
bonemarrow, ichor and puss.

[Anonymous No.11623183]

>>11623174
Cut Shallan out the story and have Jasnah be the female pov, how much does Stormlight improve?

[Anonymous No.11623187]

Right now I'm reading this dope collection of gay 80s sci-fi/fantasy short stories. Pic related.

Some people at my work hosted a "Date with a Book" event and I ended up with Pawn of Prophecy. Classic Eddings. Just glad I didn't get landed with fucking Harry Potter. I can't believe someone even brought that in.

Kinda bummed since UKLG died. Bought her last book and it's just okay; she was old. Wondering if there's anyone out there doing what she did. Got a nice collection off Amazon, though, of the Hainish cycle stories, so I'm also working through that.

[Anonymous No.11623197]

>>11622402
True Names by Vernor Vinge

[Anonymous No.11623199]

>>11623183
>Cut Shallan out the story


but then who would make witty comments about smelly breath and big boobies?

[Anonymous No.11623201]

>>11622251

Man, I love Cherryh's ideas but her writing is the fucking worst. Tangentially related, has anyone read Hunter of Worlds? It's one of the best examples of blue/orange morality I've ever come across. I have to go back and read it once in a while to remind myself to try harder in my own work.

[Anonymous No.11623206]

>>11622402
Downloading Midnight by William Browning Spencer

[Anonymous No.11623208]

>>11623199
>big boobies
Does she seriously? Can't say I'm surprised after, "HAVE YOU SHAT IN PLATE?"

[Anonymous No.11623211]

>>11623169
Go to bed, Joe.

[Anonymous No.11623255]

>>11622607
Pages per day is kind of a stupid metric to keep track of though, since it's entirely dependent on how many hours you spend reading. A better question to ask is how many hours a day you spend reading.

[Anonymous No.11623322]

>>11623255
Okay how many hours a day

[Anonymous No.11623351]

>>11621031
>>11621695
>>11622228
Thanks for the replies lads. This helps narrow my search quite a bit because I actually value the opinions of reasonable /lit/izens.

[Anonymous No.11623487]

>>11622440
>Three Body Problem
Still laffin at how the entire plot was caused by Mao Zedong's autism desu

[Anonymous No.11623515]

>>11623255
I have a different objection to pages per day in that page is a really arbitrary unit that changes on a book to book basis. When I switched over to kindles my page length changed and it was annoying because I had an intuitive understanding of how quickly I could read x pages. I've started to rethink about my reading in words per day and that works but it's not natural for me yet. Sort of like when you refer to the temperature in celsius if you grew up using fahrenheit. I also listen to a fair amount of audiobooks so I have this difficulty there as well. It's not much of a problem since I don't hold myself to a quote but it was something I kept track of when I just read paper books

[Anonymous No.11623557]

So I have a problem that anyone who reads long fantasy series will be well familiar with. A new book in a series I read a long time ago came out and I barely remember what happened in the earlier books. I'm looking at the last book in R Scott Bakker's Aspect Emperor books. I read the first trilogy years and years ago and remember enjoying it, and then I've read the first two books of aspect emperor with less enthusiasm. Now I see there's two more about that were supposed to be published as one or something.

My question is should I read the prince of nothing trilogy and first two aspect emperor books before I read the last two? I have really vague recollections of the earlier books. I remember lots of accents and obnoxious naming conventions, and then basically Bakker taking his character that can influence people's consciousness and cognitive biases (the jesus dude) then trotting that guy out to meet a bunch of people who exist only to represent classic philosophical positions (iirc the main guy who dates the prostitute is socrates).

I really liked Bakker's world and the crusades setting and I'm not opposed to rereading. I'm just not sure if the final two books are worth rereading 5 pretty dense novels. Would value insight and feedback from people who've finished the series

[Anonymous No.11623620]

>>11623557
Always read everything in the publishing order.

[Anonymous No.11623647]

>>11623620
Maybe I wasn't entirely clear in the first post. I have already it all in the publishing order. I'm wondering whether or not rereading them is necessary to fully appreciate the last two. I'm hoping someone will come along and say for example 'yes of course reread them; the third man that cucked ajencis in the second book is a critical figure' or 'no don't bother, the unholy consult don't actually exist they're just a metaphor for civil ingroup discourse that R Scott Bakker created because he was tired of writing MRA essays on his philosophy blog.' The second example is of course hyperbole because as well know Bakker will never tire of writing MRA essays on three pound brain

[Anonymous No.11623664]

>>11623647
I'd probably just read a synopsis online to refresh my memory. If you read the books you should be able to recollect the details with a little prompting and have enough of a jist of things to pick up the new books.

[Anonymous No.11623842]

any novel where the story goes mankind vs threat, but i dont want any chosen one story, and there is pride among the humankind protectors or something like that

anyway im looking for something similar to library of heaven's path

[Anonymous No.11623922]

Are there any books where a shapeless creature from the darkness before time searches the universe for purpose and eventually finds it by becoming mother? Like my chinese cartoons.

[Anonymous No.11623971]

>>11623922
Hull Zero Three

[Anonymous No.11623980]

Just bought the first two of the foundation trilogy at a used book store. I really enjoy books like ubik and dune, but have yet to finish trudging through the first chapter of neuromancer. Am I in for a good time?

[Anonymous No.11623995]

>>11623980
Yes you are
You're going to love it

[Anonymous No.11624021]

>>11623971
I'm not seeing any mention of cosmic beings in the descriptions of this.

[Anonymous No.11624120]

>what you read last?
Ghostwater by Will Wight
>how is it?
I liked it, but it felt like a book in the middle of a long series. Gotta wait for the next one to come out.
>what you reading next?
I don't know, need to find something. Any recommendations?

[Anonymous No.11624127]

>>11623980
i thought about reading those recently too just for a change from long boring tryhard shit, but i got confused by the prequels like what am i actually supposed to start with

[Anonymous No.11624147]

>>11624127
From what I googled you start with the “trillogy” which is foundation, foundation and empire, and second foundation. Those were the first published ones. So the prequels would be like star wars prequels, in that they are likely better and should be consumed after the original trilogy.


But someone here that has read it all may know better.

[Anonymous No.11624200]

>>11624021
How about The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch?

[Anonymous No.11624341]

>>11623515
Words per day is even stupider than pages because it's literally just the same stupid issue as pages except broken into even smaller pieces for no discernible reason. It's still dependent on time. The only metric that matters is how much of your time you spend reading. If after establishing your level of commitment to reading you want to boast about efficiency, then go ahead, but nobody will probably care.

[Anonymous No.11624431]

>>11622440
The prose is one thing but is the plot less garbage?

[Anonymous No.11624511]

>tfw you only write somewhat-artsy magical realism but all you really want to write is an epic anime beatdown where the MC uses the powers of every ally around to deliver a final blow to the nigh-invincible big bad

[Anonymous No.11624526]

>>11624511
Your artsy magical realism probably won't sell anyway: there's too much competition, too many people trying for the big bucks. You might as well write whatever the hell you want.

[Anonymous No.11624600]

>>11622440
>The translator is the guy who did The Dark Forest
Fuck yiss. He was so much better, or maybe it was a better book.

I read somewhere that there were changes in TTBP to reflect western feminist tones. Is this true?

[Anonymous No.11624603]

>>11623061
Forced memes are so popcorn.

[Anonymous No.11624654]

>>11624431
That's subjective. From what I've read so far the scope of the plot is much smaller, and the science is less grand in scope, but at least the characters seem more relateable.

>>11624600
Never heard anything about that, and I'm not sure where you would insert Western feminism anyway.

The only major change I'm aware of for 3BP is that in the original Chinese all the Cultural Revolution chapters were interspersed throughout the book as flashbacks whereas in the English version they were all frontloaded to the beginning. This was actually done at the author's intention though apparently, since the author originally wanted to start the Chinese version with the whole Cultural Revolution segment but decided to change the order to make it seem less politically sensitive to a first time reader; they decided to restore the original intention in the English.

[Anonymous No.11624674]

>>11624654
>not sure where you would insert Western feminism anyway
Something about descriptions, like the description of the young Red Army girl in the beginning and something else. I think I read it on reddit.

>all the Cultural Revolution chapters were interspersed throughout the book
Damn, I'd really like to read that. I'm really hoping on fan translations in the next few years, and I understand how daunting that is, also I'd fucking pay Martinsen to do 3BP and DE.

I think we've had this discussion before.

[Anonymous No.11624696]

>>11622879
I don't know about that man, I seem perfectly capable of distracting myself with anything, no electronics required.
>lying down
>standing
>breathing
>thinking
>staring into the distance
>sitting
I consider daydreaming relatively productive, and just recently I've found the most terrible distraction: writing outlines and backstory.
If you can't ignore your electronic distractions you'll just figure out some other way to waste time. Though it's harder to trick yourself into thinking that staring at a wall is productive, important, or fun.

[Anonymous No.11624703]

>>11623647
I'm not 100% sure what happened in the last two books specifically as I read all four back to back, but if it's what I think it is don't bother going back. There's more than enough time and reiteration to get back into things. Since they were originally one book there's a lot of padding, a decent amount of which I think was just going back over what everyone is doing, what their motivations are, and their current progress.

[Anonymous No.11624720]

>>11624654
Here, I guess this is the grand total of what I read about it. Some is opinion and hearsay but it sounds like there's been some changes, unfortunately.

[Anonymous No.11624728]

>>11620822
>Soulcatcher

It's pretty clear in retrospect that Cook was using Croaker as a self-insert and built up The Lady to be his perfect, bestest, infallible, virgin (are you fucking serious, Cook?) waifu whose evil is redeemed by the power of love and cock.

Black Company was a pretty shit series anyway. The entire premise of them being the "bad guys" is thrown completely out the fucking window in the middle of the first book. Dumb shit for brainless neckbeards.

[Anonymous No.11624732]

>>11624728
Out of curiosity, what fantasy do you like?

[Anonymous No.11624750]

>>11624732
>Out of curiosity, what fantasy do you like?

Cook's Garrett P.I. series was pretty good.

I'm kidding, it was fucking dogshit.

[Anonymous No.11624751]

>>11624720
Well, that's a damn shame if true. It's hard to comment because it's not clear if these sorts of liberties are down to the translator inserting their own views into the work, or if the editors made a decision to soften descriptions of women because they were frightened of leftist cultural warriors jumping down their throats if they left them as-is, especially in the political atmosphere that also influences the modern sci-fi scene.

[Anonymous No.11624767]

>ywn be as effortlessly cool as kvothe

[Anonymous No.11624778]

>>11624767
But I won't be a cuck in denial either so I guess it balances out.

[Anonymous No.11624781]

>>11624728
>The entire premise of them being the "bad guys"
REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
WRONG
WRONG
WRONG
THEY'RE
JUST
DUDES

[Anonymous No.11624792]

>>11624781
Is everybody else tired of the relentless onslaught of moral greys we get these days? Nobody is truly right, everyone has their points, and you just don't know whom to root for or relate to. It gets tiresome.

What are some classic tales you like with clearly established heroes and villains?

[Anonymous No.11624795]

>>11624781
Is anyone else tired of the relentless onslaught of moral greys we get these days? Nobody is truly right, everyone has their points, and you just don't know whom to root for or relate to. It gets tiresome.

What are some classic tales you like with clearly established heroes and villains?

[Anonymous No.11624804]

>>11624751
It's no big deal. I'm just going to learn the language. Why not, there's nothing better to do?

Anybody got a lead on an epub of Ball Lightning? The usual suspects are coming up zeros.

[Anonymous No.11624857]

>>11624804
>im just going to learn the language
would be years before you can even read simple webnovels

[Anonymous No.11624871]

>>11624857
>would be years before you can even read simple webnovels
Nah, I'm a quick study, man. Plus I remember everything. Should be able to read it by Christmas if I don't get distracted.

[Anonymous No.11624872]

>>11624804
Here anon.

https:// (mobilism) /viewtopic.php?f=1293&t=2704140

[Anonymous No.11624886]

>>11624871
you cant "quick study" chinese

[Anonymous No.11624889]

>>11624886
what the fuck are you on about
like dude just remember the picutres
not hard

[Anonymous No.11624898]

>>11624889
not me

>>11624886
We'll see. I learned myself how to play drums, smoke weed, and golf.

>>11624872
A fucking legend, that's all there is to it. Thanks, can't wait.

[Anonymous No.11624938]

>>>/sci/9937664

Oh, and I guess Krauts can't libgen no more. I'd laugh but I'm sure the US is next.

[Anonymous No.11625065]

>>11622124
>not either the current meme topic (like Blindsight)
suck my dick bitch it's the best science fiction book this side of the millennium so I'll be damned if we don't discuss it to high heaven

[Anonymous No.11625098]

>>11622050
Phew!

For once this isn't me making the case! It ain't gonna go nowhere though. We are conjoined like parasitic genre-fag monster babies. No one else will have us so we have each other.

or just try to make a /sfg/ and see if the mods/jannies are merciful gods

[Anonymous No.11625157]

>mc's mother died when he was young or dies at the start of the story

[Anonymous No.11625170]

>>11625157
That's because "mother" is the opposite word for "adventure".

(My first main character doesn't have a mother at all, at least not mentioned in the story. The second one has but she ends up shooting her dead.

[Anonymous No.11625175]

>>11623208
>HAVE YOU SHAT ON PLATE?
I would eat a mile of her shit just to see where it cam from desu.
You guys just have shit taste.

[Anonymous No.11625196]

>>11625175
>You guys just have shit taste
To me it sounds like you're the one with the taste for shit.

[thiskillsthedarkelf No.11625203]

>reading martial asura
>writing is shit awful
>plenty of slaughter and rape
>writing, or atleast translation quality improves
>no more slaughter or rape

It's been almost 1500 chapters since chu feng has exterminated a clan or deflowered a maiden and I'm not impressed.

>>11622904
>8k words

Sorta.

It's hard to get short stories published though, usually you need to be an established author or be willing to get a shit load of them published all at once.

[Anonymous No.11625328]

Just started this. Wow the names are annoying to remember. Of both cities and characters. Hope this is worth it I've read very mixed reviews. This is my first GGK novel.

[Anonymous No.11625373]

>>11625328
>Mildly criticising the king of /sffg/
Get the fuck

[Anonymous No.11625374]

anyone had experience with kindle unlimited? trying the free trial currently

you get BALL LIGHTNING >>11622440
free!

[Anonymous No.11625384]

>>11625374
>anyone had experience with kindle unlimited? trying the free trial currently
I didn't even notice the free trial bit until my book had been out for a couple weeks. So far I've had an ambivalent experience with Kindle Unlimited: it's hard to really quantify it since I haven't ever gotten to try any other way, but it's worked all right in the end I guess.

[Anonymous No.11625404]

[Anonymous No.11625499]

>>11625374
Yes, with DRM, so the books literally expire. Mine did, anyway. I suppose I could have looked for a way to copy them or something.

[Anonymous No.11625505]

>>11625374
I used it to read Super Sales. I want to shoot myself.

[Anonymous No.11625608]

>>11625404
I have a shit ton of problems with The First Law, but it feeling slow wasn't one of them.

[Anonymous No.11625706]

>>11625374
Yeah, it's not too bad. But it's cheaper in my country than in the US, and I still get the same content. It's only worth it though if you don't mind reading self published books. Not many classic or famous authors are in KU. If you enjoy the more niche genre though, it's very good. Many books can't be found in pirate sites and if you buy them all you'll quickly spend more than you'd pay for a subscription.

[Anonymous No.11625727]

Does anyone know how the e-book "lending" thing through libraries works? They must never let you get your hands on the file itself.

[Anonymous No.11625817]

>>11624127
>>11624147
When in doubt, go for publication order. In Foundation's case, definitely read the original trilogy first. The two prequels he wrote aren't similar at all, they tell the story of the mysterious guiding ancient from the trilogy and should be read later. Asimov eventually ties everything together with his Caves of Steel series, which should also be read before the foundation prequels. The whole thing is a mess with some recurring characters that you won't know if you read the order wrong.
If you're just interested in Foundation, read the original trilogy. If you want more, go publication order, or if that bugs you too much, here is Asimov's suggested chronological order http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/links/cool_sci_fi.html#asimov-suggested-reading-order

[Anonymous No.11625900]

>>11624795

Burroughs sounds like what you're looking for, go read some John Carter

[Anonymous No.11625907]

>>11625727
You have to install a drm app on your device. You can strip the drm from the file most likely.
Honestly it was a huge bust for me. Took hours because I had to figure out sideloading (my first time) the drm app to get around not having an account with the ereader vendor (required a credit card...). The sff selection was paltry. Only thing that looked mildly interesting (this is coming from someone that reads mountains of schlock) was Ready Player One and it was terrible. Haven't bothered borrowing anything since.

[Anonymous No.11625958]

>>11624526
the problem is I can feel how shitty my anime writing is on a visceral level.

it actually really sucks since the animeshit I want to be confident enough to write has fully fleshed out characters and mythos and a world ive almost entirely constructed from locations in my dreams that I've actually mapped out on paper in relation to each other

[Anonymous No.11625961]

>>11625907
Wow, fuck that. I'm just going to rely on the sites while they exist, image boards that embed pdf/epub, torrents, open directories, and close-knit communities of great friends such as ourselves!

[Anonymous No.11625968]

>>11625958
Then I say keep writing it until one of two things happens: either you grow legitimately tired of it and find something actually good that you really want to work on, or you get good enough at writing to shape your shitty anime into a good anime.

[Anonymous No.11625981]

>>11625203
>he reads mga
the author isnt even trying anymore it's just same thing happening on different places with different names

[Anonymous No.11626084]

>reading a YA novel that caught my eye
>about three chapters in a character creates a golem called BIOS who was animated with the words INIT carved in his head, and believes himself a god called The Root
>missed the programming reference
>dont catch it until near the end when he starts deleting things from existence, with the incantation "devnull"
>tfw im a fucking programmer

am I retarded?

programming was never once mentioned in the story. its set in the 1800s and the closest thing to science/engineering in the story is making fireworks, so I didn't even think to look

[Anonymous No.11626116]

>>11626084
Yeah, you're pretty retarded, sorry.
Did you enjoy yourself at least?

[Anonymous No.11626167]

>>11626084
webdev arent programmer sweety

[Anonymous No.11626196]

>>11626167
J-javascript is a programming language too!

[Anonymous No.11626213]

>>11626167
>>11626196
im a software engineer you condescending fuckfaces. slit your goddamn wrists

[Anonymous No.11626227]

>>11626213
>talks about YA shit
>gets pissy when he's talked down too
how about you come back when you've read some big boy books sweetie?

[Anonymous No.11626232]

>>11626227
>big boy books
>/sffg/
How about you come back when you've read War and Peace or some shit.

[Anonymous No.11626248]

>>11626227
you're pretty smug for someone who thinks Sanderson is what the big boys read

[Anonymous No.11626288]

He released chapter one
https://williamscorner.blog/2018/08/12/thrall-01-part-1/

I hope that means book 4 next month along with super sales 3

[Anonymous No.11626301]

Hello people, first time poster. I recently got bored by vidya and there's nothing interesting on tv or in cinema so I went back to books. I want to read some classics but its sci fi for now.
Recently I read:
>Three Body Problem by some chink
Was good, but the language delved too much into technical definitions that weren't good writing
>Left Hand of Darkness by Le Guin
Great book and a quick read, loved the structure
>Hyperion by Simmons
Literally 10/10 for me, loved everything about it

Any recommendations what to read next?

[Anonymous No.11626318]

>>11626301
childhoods end

[Anonymous No.11626320]

>>11626288
>super sales 3
When is the audiobooks for the last 3 books he put out dropping?

[Anonymous No.11626334]

>>11626301
Revelation Space

[Anonymous No.11626342]

>>11626288

[Anonymous No.11626343]

>>11626301
Three Body Problem had a bad translation
Read the sequel, much better translation

[Anonymous No.11626352]

>>11626342
Does that look mean you want me to hate fuck you?

[Anonymous No.11626398]

>>11626116
I know this is supposed to be condescending, but yeah, actually it was pretty great. I think the line between YA and adult fiction is starting to blur in places. the only real distinction seems to be the age of the protagonist at the end of the story but even that isn't a guarrentee.

honestly, this was a story where you could have put the characters in their 20s instead of their teens and literally nothing would change but the shelf you put it on

>>11626301
>sci fi
>classics

why not both? The Time Machine holds up well last I checked

[Anonymous No.11626421]

>>11620816
I reread Nightfall for the first time in a decade, and I'm inspired to delve into sf/f for the first time in ages. The recommendation macros in the thread have been really useful. I'm currently halfway through the Buried Giant, and its really intriguing to read a fantasy book by a non-genre author. I'm going to try Three Body Problem soon (despite the alleged stiff translation- I had to read Jojo using the DUWANG scans, I'll be fine) and I'm debating The City and the City as my first Mieville.

What are some stone-cold must reads that are SHORT? I have a bunch of cheap Sandersons that I purchased but I'm discouraged from even starting them rather than job-hunt.

[Anonymous No.11626445]

>>11626301
read more le guin or fall of hyperion

[Anonymous No.11626482]

>>11626343
I am reading most of the stuff in Polish anyway. My friend told me hes finishing the sequel and it's good.

>>11626398
When i wrote classics I thought more in the strain of.dostoyevsky or another euro writer. My father told me to read something from Durenmatt and I'll follow his advice

But ill gladly read Time Machine too

>>11626445
Yeah, that is my intuition too but I read that Fall Of Hyperion is an entirely different book. Is it a direct sequel? Hyperion ends with quite a cliffhanger.

[Anonymous No.11626486]

>>11626482
yes, it is a direct sequel and you should stop with the series there.

[Anonymous No.11626487]

>>11626334
Thanks I'll check it out

[Anonymous No.11626495]

>>11626486
I know that 2 other books are after a huge time skip. Are they bad? If so, why?

[Anonymous No.11626521]

>>11626495
You will probably be able to tell why the Endymion books are bad from the ending of Fall.

[Anonymous No.11626531]

>>11626495
To elaborate on what >>11626521 said, The Fall of Hyperion wraps the story up nicely and Endymion pretty much retcon the ending to hell and back for the sake of getting to cash in on sequels.

[Anonymous No.11626604]

>>11626248
>implying Sanderson isn't YA

[Anonymous No.11626663]

>>11626521
Okay, ill get into it

[Anonymous No.11626699]

>>11620816
>>what you read last?
pic related
>how is it?
best Bas-Lag novel so far, liked it better than Perdido
the setting is both unnerving, well written and insanely imaginative
the ending felt a bit disappointing but that's just me being salty because i wanted more.

next up is the last book of his trilogy, iron council but i'm like 60 pages in and not that impressed. the premise just feels weaker compared to perdido and the scar and i can't get myself to give a shit about the characters because i don't know anything about them yet

any more mieville readers around?

[Anonymous No.11626725]

>>11626699
I liked Perdido Street Station and Embassytown a lot and am looking forward to reading more of his novels. Three Moments of an Explosion, however, didn't really click with me, the short story form doesn't really give him space to explore the concepts he introduces.

[Anonymous No.11626765]

>>11626604
you... you do realize that only backs up my retort, right?

[Anonymous No.11626791]

>>11626725
Agreed. They barely scratch the surface. My first contact with him was the Looking for Jake collection, so when i actually dove into Embassytown it was a total shock. It's also fascinating to see how far he's developed his style.

Perdido Street Station had both great plot and imagery but the writing could barely keep up with that at times. The Scar is more balanced in that regard.

Would love to see his works in a videogame.

[Anonymous No.11627075]

>>11626699
the mosquito people are still one of the creepiest things I've ever read in fiction

[Anonymous No.11627113]

>>11627075
but but ...anus faces
the women tho, fuck, that shit was straight up nightmare fuel

for me it was the construct's avatar in perdido

[Anonymous No.11627140]

Any recs for good apoc/post-apoc fiction? No "army ranger special forces colonel superman prepper ubermensch" MCs, please.
I read Dave Hutchinson's Shelter recently and liked it (his Fractured Europe series is good as well) so I'm looking for something similar.

[Anonymous No.11627156]

>>11627140
metro 2033
the rest of the series is kind of weak tho compared to the first book

roadside picnic (short but wonderful)

[Anonymous No.11627174]

>>11624938
Hahahahahahahaha How The Fuck Is Site Blocking Real Hahahaha Nigga Just Use A VPN Like Nigga Download Tor Haha

[Anonymous No.11627211]

>>11627140
A Canticle for Leibowitz. it's one of the fathers of the modern post-apoc. none of the main characters are anything close to powerful in the face of the dangers around them, but their stories are interesting nonetheless. it's much more about social and technological regression, and the reclamation of technology as time passes than it is about cool guys shooting super mutants/raiders.

[Anonymous No.11627236]

I'm reading malazan book of the fallen (house of chains): is this series the most based fantasy saga in existence?
Tiste Edur are best Tiste, of course

[Anonymous No.11627241]

Anime

[Anonymous No.11627246]

>>11627236
>is this series the most based fantasy saga in existence?
*blocks your path*

[Anonymous No.11627271]

>>11627246
Is this bait?

[Anonymous No.11627279]

Manime

[Anonymous No.11627311]

>>11626699
I read one book from Mieville. The one where augurs divined the future by opening up London's innards. I remember nothing else, but that stuck with me.

[Anonymous No.11627321]

ANNIEMAY

[Anonymous No.11627323]

>>11627271
No, I read wrong and thought it said "basic".

[Anonymous No.11627370]

You know what Fantasy needs? Slut protagonists. Instead of trying to meme women into becoming these strong fighters, whey not write something where they use they actual talents? Why run around in heavy armor trying to stab a guy to death when you can be complete naked and fuck him to death?

[Anonymous No.11627379]

>>11627370
>What is erotica self-published amazon garbage
NEXT

[Anonymous No.11627391]

>>11627387
hot

[Anonymous No.11627395]

>>11627370
I wrote a story where the girl protagonist isn't much of a fighter, and instead mocks all her enemies to tears. Tears open their mental scars and destroys them.

[Anonymous No.11627409]

>>11627395
That sounds like my sister.

[Anonymous No.11627428]

>>11620822
I tried reading Black Company and I gave up a couple of pages in. I have no idea how do you people manage to read it, it was almost physically painful. I get that Cook is a self-taught writer, I get that he wrote on his work breaks, I get that it's written from perspective of a simple man writing a diary or something. But it hurt to read. Instead, I decided to try Book of the New Sun and it was the best decision of my life. I'm ESL but I still can appreciate his prose, and the events aren't nearly as incomprehensible as people meme them to be, you just gotta wait for an explanation sometimes.

[Anonymous No.11627433]

>>11621670
You could try the direct inspirations like The Boy and His Dog, A Canticle for Leibowitz.

[Anonymous No.11627509]

>>11627236
That's a fat pussy

[Anonymous No.11627513]

>>11627236
That's a fat pussy
Also delete the pic

[Anonymous No.11627549]

>>11624795
Drenai Series by Gemmel

[Anonymous No.11627838]

>>11623557
I thought those books had long ass chapters at the beginning that recounted everything that happened before in considerable detail. Like an hour in audiobook form. They should suffice.

[Anonymous No.11627942]

>mfw the two greatest fantasy books ever written are not translated in english and probably never will because burgers only care about their internal market, therefore I'll never be able to shill them on /sffg/

[Anonymous No.11627962]

>>11627942
>my subjective tastes speak for the entire sff international community

[Anonymous No.11627972]

>>11627942
Translate them yourself and send the publisher the bill

[Anonymous No.11628026]

>>11627962
>posts on /lit/
>doesn't know what a hyperbole is and misses the point about burger-centrism
>typical genrepleb
>>11627972
Translating into my second language? I'm sure no one wants that.

[Anonymous No.11628050]

>>11627942
>>11628026
So you’re saying the greatest fantasy books are in English.

>>11627323
>>11627246
The Belgariad is the most basic fantasy series ever. I still like it tho

[Anonymous No.11628224]

/sffg/, what do you think is necessary in order to make an issekai great rather than shlock?

[Anonymous No.11628234]

>>11625203
>martial asura
nigga stop reading xianxia

[Anonymous No.11628269]

>>11628224
Characters don't get over possibly never going back to their old world, friends, and family again after 5 minutes of entering a strange land.

[Anonymous No.11628303]

>Character was explicitly stated to be the leader of the group
>Main character comes along and pretty much everyone starts listening to them after a few chapters

[Anonymous No.11628345]

>>11628269
Hypothetically speaking, what if the character[s] in question don't spend much time worrying because they know a difficult but certain way back. [spoiler]But the real angst comes from the realization that opening the door for themselves opens the door for the forces of evil as well, and our world is unprepared to handle them[/spoiler]

[Anonymous No.11628350]

>>11628303
you're reading Worm, aren't you

[Anonymous No.11628360]

>>11628345
That moment you realize you're describing Everworld.

[Anonymous No.11628366]

>>11628350
No, I'm reading Ward. At least it makes more sense there compared to Worm and Twig.

[Anonymous No.11628534]

sanderfag a hack

[Thiskillsthedarkelf No.11628654]

>>11625981
>>11628234
Sorry guys I can't stop now, so many unresolved plot lines.

[Anonymous No.11629072]

Has anybody here tried or managed to have their short stories published on the myriad of fantasy/scfi magazine out there? How hard is it? Just pure luck?

A while ago I gave some of those magazines a read and was surprised by how, well, bad or mediocre a lot of the stories were, and so I got myself genuinely questioning how is it that the selection for which story gets published actually goes. I know some of them just know someone inside the editor's team or things like that, but it can't be the bulk of it right?

Also, yes, I am gonna ask that silly question, but you can ignore if you want: what's the best path of work for an aspiring fantasy writer nowadays? Online platforms like Wattpad? Self-publishing on Amazon? Sending the manuscript to publishers like a crazy motherfucker? Is knowing someone already inside the only way without depending on that 1/1000000 chance?

[Anonymous No.11629114]

>>11629072
Just give up and get into art. Unless you're the best of the best or have connections it's pointless. At least with decent art skills you can get enough patreonbux for the bills.

[Anonymous No.11629145]

>>11629114

I am not talking about getting famous and living out of it, just getting some bucks from getting published on those periodical magazines. A lot of the writers that get published don't look like anyone special, just random people, some even with self-published books on amazon.

[Anonymous No.11629406]

>>11628269
unless they don't have family or friends to care about and have a shitty live in the real world.

[Anonymous No.11629430]

>>11625961
>>11625907
My mom gets by fine using our library app to download things to her kindle (overdrive). It's two week drm that renders the files inaccessible afterwards. I've used it on occasion and think the selection is impressive but obviously ymmv per your local library. You can strip the drm from them with a plugin for calibre. I use calibre to manage my ebooks anyway so for me it wouldn't be a big deal. If its not something you're used to perhaps you'll find it less effective.

[Anonymous No.11629542]

>>11624511
Hey at least you can write something you're not ashamed to put your name on. All I can write is erotic fiction featuring my niche fetishes. Pages and pages of it, probably over 100,000 words at this point scattered across scores of different .doc files.

[Anonymous No.11629559]

>>11629072
I have a friend who’s gotten short stories published, another friend who got his novella bought by Tor. Both had been writing for years, getting critiques from our writing group, honing their craft.

It depends on what you want to write. I want to write a NYT bestseller so I’m going to ignore Wattpad and self-publishing. I’ll to finish my novel, pitch it to agents, and hope I break out of the mid-list. If you’re good at cranking out the words, you can release stuff for free/cheap on Wattpad or self publishing to build up an audience and then start charging more. It doesn’t matter if you go with publishers or self publishing, most of the marketing will be up to you.

[Anonymous No.11629570]

>>11620816
>>what you read last?
Time Out of Joint
>>how is it?
It took a while to take off, and when it did it was great, but then it kind of landed on a wet fart. Was okay but I don't think I'll read it again.
>what you reading next?
I'm currently reading Childhood's End, but I'm thinking of finishing up my PKD stack before reading more Arthur C. Clarke. Thinking We Can Build You.

[Anonymous No.11629576]

>>11627236
It's definitely an experience. An intimidating read to start over again, but I definitely plan on rereading it eventually. I'm sure there's tons of stuff I missed in the early books since so much of the story is hard to piece together right up until the last few books.

[Anonymous No.11629582]

>>11627942
Everything worth reading is published in English.

[Anonymous No.11629596]

>>11627236
Malazan is the epitome of endless, turgid fantasy lore that goes on forever and ultimately adds up to nothing of significance

Malazan Books of the Fallen is pretty much, like, the closest thing possible to what people who hate epic fantasy think epic fantasy is

[Anonymous No.11629607]

>>11629596
But it does add up to something, the entire series builds to the climax of the last two books. Pretty much everything in the entire series from book 1 is pointed toward that final conflict, but it's impossible to see at the outset because you're only given very limited views of what is going on and nothing is ever explained fully, it just gradually comes into focus.

>Malazan Books of the Fallen is pretty much, like, the closest thing possible to what people who hate epic fantasy think epic fantasy is
Most people who hate epic fantasy think it is all like Wheel of Time or Shannara. Malazan is extremely different from both of those.

[Anonymous No.11629613]

>>11620816
>what you read last?
The Neverending Story
>how is it?
Excellent. Made me excited like a child again. The movie does the book no justice.
>what you reading next?
Beasts Men and Gods byFerdinand Ossendowski. It's not really fantasy or fiction though.

[Anonymous No.11629642]

>>11629613
I like how they use colored fonts to jump between the inner story and the outer story.

[Anonymous No.11629917]

Should I read Perry rhodan? It's such a gigantic amount of books its intimidating.

[Anonymous No.11630092]

>>11627428
>I'm ESL but I still can appreciate his prose

[Anonymous No.11630132]

any novel with kingdom toppling beauties

[Anonymous No.11630198]

Im at the part where theyre taking a shelter at shadar logoth. Im not really enjoying it, should I continue? Does it get better?

[Anonymous No.11630216]

>>11630198
The series gets worse after a couple of books. Don't waste your time on epic fantasy.

[Anonymous No.11630239]

>>11630216
Do you have any recommendations? Im looking for something like asoiaf, medieval fantasy with rich characters and drama

[Anonymous No.11630251]

>>11620822
>She looked like THAT in chapter 1
> Croaker, a medic, somehow didn't see the feminine semblances

[Anonymous No.11630255]

>>11630251
woah.... its almost like..... fanartists..... are just...... thirsty neckbeards........
woah dude.....

[Anonymous No.11630270]

>>11624795
Lord of the Rings

[Anonymous No.11630278]

>>11630239
realm of the elderlings

[Anonymous No.11630280]

>>11630255
You're probably right about the picture. But even in their first meeting (/spoilers/on the boat/spoilers/) she apparently had a giggle like something from a girl in your dreams, or whatever, as Croaker describes. And her mannerisms all seemed feminine, too.

Then again, Beryl was kind of a sexually ambiguous city. So if he thought she was some gay or feminine dude, I can't blame him.

[Anonymous No.11630281]

>>11624795
>Nobody is truly right, everyone has their points, and you just don't know whom to root for or relate to
low iq post but >>11630198 theres like 10 or so books, have a blast

[Anonymous No.11630286]

>>11630280
Correction it was technically the spoilers/street crossing, when the two cohorts met with each other/spoilers.

[Anonymous No.11630307]

>>11630239
Not really, it's honestly quite hard to find really good character driven fantasy.

[Anonymous No.11630317]

>>11630307
What about "the first law" and "black company"? ive seen people talking about them here in a few latest generals

[Anonymous No.11630327]

>>11630317
>First Law
Absolutely not.
>Black Company
Have not actually read it desu

[Anonymous No.11630329]

>>11630307
*blocks ur path*

[Anonymous No.11630333]

>>11630327
>Absolutely not.
why?

[Anonymous No.11630344]

>>11630317
>first law
shit
>black company
breddy good

[Anonymous No.11630354]

>>11630333
So imagine a fantasy story written by a man who thinks he's super clever and above all established fantasy tropes. However, he's not a smart person at all. So you end up with a story about a bunch of assholes that doesn't really go anywhere and is full of frustrating moments where exactly the worst possible thing happens purely because that's the opposite of what would happen in a normal fantasy book. Add on commentary from the characters saying 'well, if this was a fantasy X would happen, but this is real....' about five times a book and you'll probalby get the picture.

[Anonymous No.11630358]

>>11630329
I like Verity, Burrich, Chade, Regal and a couple of other characters quite well and enjoyed the first trilogy but it's hardly an outstanding achievement. The whole plot with his gf is hit or miss and the coterie members are basically non characters.

>>11630333
It's not well paced and personally I just could not stand Abercrombies writing.

[Anonymous No.11630362]

>>11630358
Did you try the Liveship books?

[Anonymous No.11630372]

>>11630362
No, but I might some day. I read the Farseer trilogy about a year ago and didn't really feel like I wanted more at the moment.

[Anonymous No.11630381]

>>11630239
The characters in Wheel of Time are all shit. Have you tried the Witcher?

[Anonymous No.11630386]

>>11630333
Don't listen to the turtle poster. If you want something like Asoiaf you'll enjoy First Law.
Black Company is great too, although very simple compared to Asoiaf.

[Anonymous No.11630391]

>>11630372
Well if you ever feel like it it's about a different cast of people, in a different region of the world and it's written in third person.

[Anonymous No.11630396]

>>11624857
lol no

[Anonymous No.11630411]

>>11630386
Yeah First Law is a solid recommendation for character driven fantasy but clearly not to everyone's taste. Abercrombie is absolutely not the guy for traditional escapist fantasy.

Another author I would recommend for character driven fantasy is Guy Gavriel Kay.

[Anonymous No.11630450]

>>11630381
The fact that netflix is making series based on witcher books makes me not to try them

[Anonymous No.11630467]

>>11630450
true that, why bother spoiling the series? it's gonna be great.

[Anonymous No.11630474]

>>11630467
agreed

[Anonymous No.11630477]

>>11630450
i want to continue study at the west but things like this makes me having second thoughts

[Anonymous No.11630482]

>>11630477
OH NO THEY'VE HIRED FEMALES TO WRITE A TELEVISION SERIES
THIS TRULY IS THE DOWNFALL OF WESTERN CIVILISATION

[Anonymous No.11630483]

Despite few hickups, this was surprisingly good for movie franchise tie-in pulp.

Been thinking of getting some more Lovecraft but I think I've gone through all his essentials. Is there something that is tonally similar and good but not his?

[Anonymous No.11630484]

>>11630474

[Anonymous No.11630492]

>>11630482

[Anonymous No.11630496]

>>11630450
>>11630467
>it's gonna be great
The opposite for me: knowing they're going to fuck it up with another series, like what they did with Game of Thrones, is turning me off the series altogether.

[Anonymous No.11630502]

>>11630450
Amazon's making a Wheel of Time show too

[Anonymous No.11630524]

>>11630502
dont forget about the lotr remake with minorities and powerful women

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jennifer-salke-details-amazon-plans-broad-hits-lord-rings-1118921

>Amazon Studios has tapped former NBC head of current programming Vernon Sanders to serve as co-head of television and work alongside Albert Cheng.
>Having somebody like me, who celebrates women and diversity, come in is a huge first step

[Anonymous No.11630553]

>>11630524
>remaking Lotr
Why? It's a timeless classic.

[Anonymous No.11630562]

>>11630553
More money.

[Anonymous No.11630565]

>>11630562
It's going to flop like a spent cock

[Anonymous No.11630597]

>>11630474
The worst part of this image is that someone actually liked the Dark Tower adaptation.

[Anonymous No.11630610]

>>11630524
they're not remaking it, they're doing either something from the simarillion or bridging the gap between the hobbit and lotr ro something

[Anonymous No.11630631]

>>11630610
They will remake LotR eventually too, mark my words. They can still make money out of it. They will wring it clean.

[Anonymous No.11630632]

>>11630524
So I'm *actually* reading the article and while I think this new series will be bad, you're quoting it out of context. The "women and diversity" line was contrasting herself from the previous CEO, who was trying his very hardest to become Weinstein 2.0 before he was ousted. I think her position is a natural one to take, given the circumstances.

I finished the article. All she mentions in regards to LOTR is that they're looking for showrunners. You were deliberately misrepresenting the truth and posting in bad faith.

Also, realtalk, I unironically crave a more diverse output of shows on Amazon. Don't touch lord of the rings, but I'm bored of their shows have almost exclusively all-white casts. Give me something like GLOW for once.

[Anonymous No.11630638]

>>11630610
>bridging the gap between the hobbit and lotr ro something

[Anonymous No.11630640]

>>11630632
name a single mainstream show from the last few years that has all white cast

[Anonymous No.11630645]

>>11630632
>he watches amazon shows

[Anonymous No.11630683]

>>11630640
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_original_programs_distributed_by_Amazon

All of these, dude. That's what makes it so weird. You have occasional exceptions (there are like, 2 black dudes in Bosch) but for the most part its incredibly mayo-ass premises and concepts. Who asked for two different F Scott Fitzgerald series? Who asked for a Woody Allen sitcom?

>>11630645
I know, that was my first mistake

[Anonymous No.11630687]

>>11630683
>literally who : the show
i said mainstream

[Anonymous No.11630693]

>>11630687
Vikings

[Anonymous No.11630700]

>>11630687
I wasn't talking about mainstream shows. I was talking about Amazon shows. That was my point. Mainstream shows have semi-diverse casts. Amazon shows tend to be all-white.

[Anonymous No.11630703]

>>11630693
b8

[Anonymous No.11630708]

>>11630703
What? Vikings is one of the biggest shows around at the moment, how's it not mainstream?

[Anonymous No.11630711]

>>11630700
whats wrong with having all white casts? you have plenty of shows with diverse casts you can watch those, maybe some people still enjoy full white casts. stop being selfish

[Anonymous No.11630722]

>>11630708
Vikings show is based on historical evidence, vikings were white. Historical figures are not the same as fictional characters

[Anonymous No.11630727]

>>11630711
I'm saying its weird that's the ONLY kind that Amazon has. Same with their movies too. Besides their Park Chan-Wook and Spike Lee films Amazon is very heavy on the Grandma-core.

[Anonymous No.11630729]

>>11630722
>he still thinks that northern europe was homogeneous despite centuries of rule and/or trade with Rome
Thought Mary Beard killed this meme

[Anonymous No.11630777]

>>11630729
>he thinks there were nignog vikings just because vikings had *commercial ties* with mediterranean people

[Anonymous No.11630788]

>>11630777
This but unironically

[Anonymous No.11630951]

>>11630386
There is nothing similar about ASOIAF and the First Law

[Anonymous No.11631085]

>>11630951
Except that both suck?

[Anonymous No.11631150]

>>11629430
To be fair, much of my trouble not wanting to give B&N a credit card just so I could use their stupid app store. I also live in a rural area, so perhaps my library has a lower tier sub to overdrive or something? DRM is never worth it.

[Anonymous No.11631482]

>>11620816
bitches, remove the > in front of the links so its easier to click on

[Anonymous No.11631488]

>>11631482
You can do the next thread and make sure it's correct.

[Anonymous No.11631495]

>>11631482
What the fuck are you talking about?
How is it difficult to click on these?

[Anonymous No.11631966]

New Thread
>>11631963
>>11631963
>>11631963

[Anonymous No.11632008]

>>11631482
>>11631966
>>11631963
btfo