Recommended reading charts. (Look here before asking for vague recs)https://mega.nz/folder/kj5hWI6J#0cyw0-ZdvZKOJW3fPI6RfQ/folder/4rAmSZxb>Archive:https://warosu.org/lit/?task=search2&search_subject=sffg>Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1029811-sffg>Previous:>>24809828>Thread Question: Do you enjoy horror in your SF&F and which flavour of horror do you like the most?
>>24821618You'll probably find Book of the Long Sun an easier read, it's told in the 3rd person. Pater Silk is a more likable character than Severian imoHaven't read Short Sun yet.
>>24823223Fantasy books you think Hitler would enjoy? I want to read something that the Tulpa of Hitler I created in my mind can enjoy and we can talk about it between sessions. He's getting bored in here and our discussions of Robinson Crusoe are getting stale. I think he would enjoy discussing some fantasy. How's tigana?
>>24823378Tigana is about people living in diaspora and undermining the societies they live in, I doubt Hitler would root for the heroes of that story very much.
>>24823411Oh I heard a vague description of it being about people trying to protect their dying homeland that's being killed by a jewking. Any other suggestions?
>>24823223>TQNo
What are some books where the heroes and villains are extremely powerful? Hercules/Gilgamesh-types.
Hook me up on some bronze age fantasy kino bros. Something that feels epic and mythical, without being too flowery and overly descriptive, like Homer's stuff.
>>24823223When Is It get good?
Thoughts about The First Law by Joe Abercrombie? I've been trying to find some decent fantasy to read and everything I've tried so fard is either childish either edgy in a childish way.
>>24823615At the end. I love the ideas of the trilogy, but jesuschrist, it's so awfully written. Not gonna spoil you anything, but there is a part in the trilogy about a dude just hanging out with a waifu. Hundreds of pages.
>>24823416I dunno, Hawkmoon?
>>24823624First Law is the poster-child of childish edgy
>>24823666Nah, that's Prince of Thorns.
All That We See or Seem, Julia Z #1 - Ken Liu (2025)Set in the near future, Julia Z is an aimless 23 year old troubleshooter for tech issues. A man comes to her seeking help in finding his missing wife, and from there it becomes so much more.That's all I have to say about the plot, because although this is a plot driven thriller, I didn't care for the plot and I don't believe it's why most would read it. This is a very uneven book that shouldn't have been expanded from being a novella, as Liu says it was, on advice from his editor. What I believe to be the parts from the novella stand out because they're both so much better than all the rest and their inclusion feels like they're inserted rather being an organic continuation of what previously happened. I felt like I was reading a fix-up novel where the majority of the book was a filler thriller narrative that only existed to provide bulk to the narrative between the speculative fiction scenes.I had low expectations coming into this because I didn't know how it could go well. It seemed like Liu was going for a highly commercial book that wouldn't have any of what made his short fiction or novels enjoyable. Liu didn't commit to it being anything in particular and that's where the unevenness comes in. I say without qualification that as a thriller, this is a failure, which is all the more disappointing because some of my favorite works from Liu are thrillers. The speculative fiction is enjoyable though.There are numerous problems. The dialogue is awful and the antagonists are worse. They're caricatures without being comical. It had me thinking, "What if Snow Crash, but played straight in an entirely serious manner?" That wouldn't and doesn't work. I found Julia Z to be an unsuitable protagonist. She's an allegory, but regardless, I disliked her nearly complete reliance on AI to solve her problems rather than doing it herself. This could've worked in short fiction, but over the course of a novel, it's annoying. Related to this is that Liu trusts the reader far less to understand what he's written, because at multiple points he explicitly tells the reader what he meant by something.The speculative fiction involves the newly emerging medium of dream guides. They're something like a combination of storyteller, conductor, talk therapy, hypnotist, and ASMR, meditated through AI. I found it to be a fascinating exploration of contemporary content creation and the relationship between creators and audience. Without these scenes, the book wouldn't be worth reading.When I read books that have content that I feel may parallel the personal experience of the author I can't resist wondering if it's self referential. So, I couldn't help but wonder how much of the dream guide character's story was a metaphorical expression of Ken Liu's own writing history and how it may have led to writing the thriller filler around the speculative fiction. I can only hope that I'm mistaken.Rating: 2.5/5
>>24823712your """reviews""" are SHITFUCK OFF
>>24823743based
>>24823743They're a staple of these threads and deal with books none of us would ever read anyway
>>24823743your """replies""" are SHITFUCK OFF
>>24823777>>24823798Filtered by based DunsanyDunsany is King. Stop reading and reviewing pozzed fantasy
>>24823777>none of us would read anywayFrom this monthhttps://warosu.org/lit/thread/24779834#p24779854https://warosu.org/lit/thread/24767428#p24774827
Has anyone read the siege of vraks?
>>24823821Just go start a classic /sffg/. Why do you like to piss yourself because anons want to talk about modern sff in the sff general?
>>24823798>>24823870>>24823821Newfags>>24823615Never, they're shit that was astroturfed by the CCP.>>24823624Abercrombie is mediocre at best. Plenty of better authors out there if you want dark or edgy. Try Thomas Covenant for more seriously treated fantasy. Or Book of the New Sun but you may end up filtered. Seven Kennings is more modern without being overly pozzed and doesn't come across as childish.
>>24823743You will always be a 14-25 year old newfag nigger who does not fit into 4chan.
>>24823777He's been doing this for around or over three years. Our third worst spammer behind Bakkerfag and RIfag. At least RIfag had the decency to move to webnovel general.
>>24823624I liked The First Law. Abercrombie gets a lot of deserved hate for his more recent books but this trilogy was fine.
2025 In Publishing Moving In On Less Traditional Works, As Per Locus Magazine's Monthly People & Publishing Round-UpJune MATT DINNIMAN sold print rights to This Inevitable Ruin, seventh book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, to Jessica Wade at Ace via Seth Fishman of the Gernert Company.AugustKENNY KING sold three books in LitRPG series How I Became the World’s Strongest Warrior by Using Basic Attacks to Jason Pinter at Simon Maverick at auction.TAO WONG resold self-published fantasies The First Step, The First Stop, and The First War to Anne Sowards at Ace via Seth Fishman of The Gernert CompanySeptemberSHIRTALOON & TRAVIS DEVERELL resold three books in the He Who Fights with Monsters series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault via Seth Fishman of The Gernert Company. Damian Wassel will edit.Three books in JOHN BIERCE’s Mage Errant series resold to Rhett Bruno at Aethon via M.H.F. Saint of Achilles Literary Agency.RHAEGAR resold three books in the Azarinth Healer series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault via Brooks Aspden at Portal Books. Damian Wassel will edit.LUKE CHMILENKO resold three books in the Ascend Online fantasy series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault. Damian Wassel will edit.JN CHANEY resold three books in the Backyard Starship series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault. Damian Wassel will edit.MICHAEL CHATFIELD resold three books in the Ten Realms series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault. Damian Wassel will edit.J.R. MATHEWS resold three books in the Jake’s Magical Market series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault. Damian Wassel will edit.JEZ CAJIAO resold the Age of Stone series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault. Damian Wassel will edit.YRSILLAR resold three books in the Forge of Destiny series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault via Lenny Herbert of Maximum Orbit.BENJAMIN KEREI resold the Unorthodox Farming fantasy series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault. Damian Wassel will edit.DAVID NORTH resold three books in the Guardian of Aster Fall series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault. Damian Wassel will edit.TRAVIS BAGWELL resold three books in the Awaken Online LitRPG series to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault. Damian Wassel will edit.OctoberJONATHAN YANEZ’s SF litRPG Hard Reset sold to Marilyn Kretzer at Blackstone Publishing via Adam Chromy of Movable Type Management.TURTLEME’s fantasy web novel series The Beginning After the End went to Rhett Bruno at Aethon & Vault.
>>24823979I hate the average modern reader Jesus Christ
>>24823979That's so bodalious bro. It's like, fucking badass and shit these mother fuckers were able to get the corporate pigs to seem them out. Yes make the man beg. Revolution in the publishing industry. Have them come to you.Millennial writers are here.
>>24823615It is a weird series. I don't think any of the books are any good, but still I would recommend finishing them. The Dark Forest is definitely the best out of the trilogy.
Just finished fall of hyperion>see you later, alligator>in a while, crocodileAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
>My name is Cassius Bellona. Son of Tiberius. Son of Julia. Morning Knight, and my honor remains.
>>24824040The fact that anyone still recommends Hyperion is flabbergasting. It was shit when it was published and The Terror is the same book by the same author just done better
>>24824071>Hyperion and The Terror are the same book???
>>24824071>How can I be contrarian and wrong, today?
>>24824074>bunch of crazies get on a ship, get rekt by incomprehensible cosmic horror, learn (whatever)The stage and props are different but that's about all
>>24823223Bimbo sisters soon, brothers.
>>24824070The Red Rising series is so fucking corny and all of the memorable parts are just enjoyable characters getting killedEntertaining? SureBut there were a couple of times when it fucking took me out of it>Clang clang "CONFESS"Was probably the worst offender
red rising is just hunger games written by a zionist
>>24824070best boy
>>24824112Almost every book is written by Zionists
Is the world of BOTNS supposed to look something like Kenshi?Having a hard time picturing it
>>24823615The dark forest is good.
>>24823979Also included in this was that it listed a few male sff authors getting seven figure ($1m+) deals for new series, including Jay Kristoff (Empire of the Vampire).
>>24823979So the new meta is just publishing stuff on Royal Road?
>>24824268That's just a few. Each month has a lot listed out, so no, not the meta. It's a boost for the already successful in this case.
>>24823979I feel nauseous.
Im rereading old mans war trilogy, its not that fun as I remembered
how many books do you usually read in a year more or less?i've just counted and i've read 16 books in the last year. it's not so bad as i expected, i had the feeling i've read much less than that. the most i've read in a year ever i think is less than 30
>>24824567About a novel every week
>>24824567I read a 400 page novel in about 1.5-2 weeks, so I'm on pace for about 25-30 per year.
>>24823378horror story of things to cum/came
>>24824567about 10I can go through a novel in a day if it's really good.but I usually get caught up in mediocre books, and use much longer time to get through those
>>24823712>>24823615>Liu>LiuWhat is this like Smith over there?
Any books that feel like the original Star Wars trilogy?
>>24824775https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_Chinese_surnames>The top five surnames in China – Wang, Li, Zhang, Liu, Chen – are also the top five surnames in the world, each with over 70-100 million worldwide.
>>24824222>Empire of the VampireThe anon that said this book was a super edgy shonen anime was right. I started it today and while it's fast-paced it is super corny. Feels like it was written by an AP English student. At one point one of the characters says something about "getting down to the tacks of brass. The hideous Tumblr-tier "art" in the book is the icing on the cake.
>>24824810>>24824775there are like 5 different "Liu" in china. They're all pronounced slightly different but it doesn't translate well into English.
>>24824818Zamn. Delete this confusing ass language
>>24824070 Cringe as fuck. Thank god I dropped this garbage in the middle of the second book
Man, I want to like Raymond E Feist, but I have to admit, his books are kind of mid.After finishing both the Riftwar Saga, and the Empire Trilogy, I felt like his work was still too immature, creatively speaking. So I figured I would skip to one of his later works. Choosing the book King of Ashes, because it's not connected to the world of Midkemia. It's a fresh start in a new world. And it came out in 2018, so it's fairly recent. I expected a more mature writer.It's a let down. Raymond hasn't grown as a writer at all. I could go into detail, but I'm tired right now. Suffice it to say, it's incredibly tepid. The stakes are low, the character writing is super basic. Both dialogue and exposition sound like a synopsis of the current situation, rather than feeling natural. He keeps retelling the relationship dynamics between character like he's reading a character sheet, rather than just having the characters be who they are supposed to be.I made it into the second book of the trilogy. Queen of Storms. And I'm just bored as fuck. There's nothing to really give a shit about. All the scenarios are incredibly cliche. No cleverness whatsoever. Just going through the motions of a tale, without the emotional weight to make you feel it. Plus, the second book most takes place on two ships, and I HATE boat stories.I guess I'm giving up on Raymond E Feist. After seven and a half books, I have to admit he's just kind of a bland writer. Blah.
About to read this what do I think of it?
>>24823223Currently reading Blood of The Fold. It's a bit repetitive overall, but still a good read.
Lysander MUST die
>>24824086>feMC shan't be reading
>>24824525The original is decent, if unspectacular. I've not been impressed with anything else Scalzi has written that I've read - enough so that I've stopped reading any of his stuff.It's better than slop like Maas or VE Schwab, but not by much.
>>24824901Serpentwar is the best thing he ever wrote, nothing he wrote before or after comes close.
>>24824784Mortal Engines?
There's nothing wrong with reading for entertainment only, even if what you are reading has little to no literary valueAnd yes, I am enjoying dungeon crawler carl thank you very much
>>24825378damn this came out of nowhere. Insecure much. And there is something wrong with what you said actually.
>>24825378same but i read Peter Hamilton books
Any good?
>>24825538our guy matt (and my friend) loved it
>>24824784Read what inspired Star Wars.>Barsoom>Flash Gordon>Tarzan>New Gods>Leigh Brackett's books>Dune>JRR Tolkien>Don Juan novels>CS Lewis>Valerian>Foundation>Wagner's Ring Cycle>Buck Rogers>Tintin>Carlos Castenada>East Asian/Dharmic religion>The Bible
Anyone got some recommendations for good (or at least decent) Mil-SF? Preferably stuff more in the vein of Starship Troopers or Hammer's Slammers, where the focus is on planetary combat instead of starship battles.
>>24825538From what little I read of it to see if it may be worth reading, it seemed like it could have potential. I may read it this year, though there are several other books in the queue before it currently.
>>24825589The Hidden Fortress...
>>24823223>AI slopKys
>almost goes through death and slavery with Typhon>walks it off and becomes one with nature and shit until he reaches the town by the lake>time to become the bully :^)>ultimately gets arrested for acting like a retardI knew Severian was slow but zamn
I haven't read any of these. Are they good?
>>24824567I read two books yesterday. Two the day before. I haven't read one yet today because I've gotten bored of the series I was reading and I'm looking for something else. Once I find something I'll probably make inroads on that before I go to bed.
>>24825948Sabriel is the only good book on that list. I haven't read the others, but I know in my bones it is true.
>>24824567Usually, about 20.This year, about 10.But 2 of them are the Stephen Kotkin Stalin books, which are bricks and have me checking stuff all the time.Reading isn't my primary hobby, video games rob me of time too.
>>24824567I read about one book, maybe two, a month. >>24825978>video games rob me of time too.I just can't do it any more. I can't find joy in videogames, I don't know if it's my ages (mid 30s), or what. but sitting in front of a computer or sitting at a TV and pushing around characters, clicking abilities, listening to their dialogue, feels like rot to me. and yet I continuously am looking for another game to play. thanks for reading my blog
Is Dragonriders of Pern good? The original trilogy at least
>>24824567I've read 25 this year according to goodreads
>>24823624It was okay, but the first book was good enough to make me expected more. I enjoyed the worldbuilding and the setting and some of the "twists", but the ending felt like it was deliberately designed to "subvert expectations" rather than pay off in any satisfying way. One of the characters is clearly the teacher's pet, but he wasn't my favourite, so there goes that. Don't regret reading it but I wouldn't go out of my way to read it either.
>>24826051enjoyable lightweight YA readingtower & hive and the crystal singer series are alright tooif you're older than ~16 maybe don't bother
>>24824901 He is a decent fun 6.5/10 writer, dont expect the prose to be like Guy Gavriel Kay or Frank Herbert in Dune, but its better than any recent fantasy book authors (with the exception of Tad Williams). He's a poor man's David Gemmell, but that doesnt make him bad or unreadable.
https://rehfoundation.org/save-the-reh-museum/
>>24824901Forget Feist and focus on Janny Wurts
>>24825724>>24825589Galactic Patrol / Lensman series, E.E. "Doc" Smith
>>24823615Halfway through The Dark Forest.
>>24825266absolutely not
>>24825538No. Totally pozzed.
Any good historical fantasy?
>>24825218I doubt his best lives up to my standards. The guy is a fantasy writer, but he's allergic to magic. In King of Ashes, he makes a big deal about how amazing the arts were of the kingdom of Ithrace. That they were all master dancers, and architects, and were the most beautiful people, and yadda yadda.The main character is a cliched orphaned Prince of Ithrace. So after all the talk about how amazing the people were, one would expect the talent to blossom in the main character. But the main character doesn't display any affinity for the arts, except in a single scene. Where in passing, it's mentioned that he took a job as a blacksmith's apprentice for a very brief period. And during that small period of time, he excelled at the work. That's it. In the 1 and a half books I've read, only a single paragraph mentions he's artfully talented at something. Yet, being artfully talented is the entire thing about these legendary people. It's so fucking lame how little Raymond utilizes the very concepts he introduces. What is even the point in reminding us again and again and again about the legendary talents of the people, if you're not going to actually exemplify them?!This is a core issue with all of his writing. Which is why I doubt Serpentwar is any better. he's just going to introduce a new fantasy concept, and then never utilize it, and blab on about his shallow character dynamics, or shallow politics.>>24826167lol, there's an idea. Maybe I should. Maybe Raymond was holding her back.>>24826058>but its better than any recent fantasy book authorsHard disagree.
>>24826347>lol, there's an idea. Maybe I should. Maybe Raymond was holding her back.I guarantee you that Wars of Light and Shadow runs circles around 9/10 fantasy series ever written
>>24823712Thats unfortunate because Liu is usually really good
>>24824920>halfway in dunno what's going onI think I'm a midwit.
>>24826368Her earlier series, Cycle of Fire, is really good too.
I'm in a funk and don't know what to read. Feel like high fantasy but at the same time want to read some cyberpunk stuff but I know as soon as I picked up the cyberpunk I'll regret it because I want to read high fantasy, but nothing is capturing me right now
>>24826481So pick up a short-story collection.
>>24826368Oh my fucking god, Wars of Light has a fucky read order. Normally Goodreads is reliable for finding the publication order of books. But I can't find it there.Turns out only the first, tenth, and eleventh book in the series has audio version. Which is odd.In searching for the other audiobooks, I found a review for the second book. https://everybookadoorway.com/it-doesnt-get-better-the-ships-of-merior-by-janny-wurts/?utm_source=www.google.com&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=Google&referrer-analytics=1That reviewer dislikes Janny's writing for all the things that I disliked Raymond's writing for. Plus, the second book is another boat story. So now I don't even want to start the series. If it's going to be the same style as Raymond, and if I have to get through another boat book, it doesn't even seem worth it. Maybe the other books didn't get audio versions because they're actually bad?
>>24826397Yes, yes, it is. I posted my follow up thoughts on Goodreads in a message, which I won't be posting here. Doesn't in any way diminish what else he's done, and he has another short fiction collection coming out, which should be good.
>>24826481I had a similar feeling and le Guin's Earthsea books got me out of this. You can start and stop with book 1 if you like, but the books all do share the same universe and I have enjoyed all that I've read so far. It's not expansive and thick and "epic" like whatever Sanderson is up to or or GRRM or Tolkien or anything like that, but it is quiet, subtle, and most importantly warm.if I may offer some modern cyberpunk books, I really enjoyed Void Star by Zachary Mason and Titanium Noir by Harkaway
>>24824567I'm right at 30 this year, which is slower than my goal of 40. But usually I read a couple a month - lower when I'm reading something dense or that I should drop, faster if I'm really enjoying it.>>24826013I, too, am mid-30s, spend too much money on games I barely play, and only enjoy a handful of games (exclusively for gameplay) anymore. Rogueslop is the primary thing that engages me anymore, I just can't get myself to give a shit about any sort of story in vidya these days.
>>24826481I heartily recommend Murderbot Chronicles. It's a cyberpunk corpodystopia with story beats of a spy thriller or noir, and each of the first four books are only like 150 pages each.
>>24826496I don't care about audiobooks, I'm not blind
>>24826558the cover on the left actually put me off the book for years. it was only after i found pic related at a used bookstore that i finally decided to read it.
>>24826601>rogueslopbased and same. I do still play some games but yes they are primarily roguelikes or roguelites in which I can play a game in single sitting. DCSS and Balatro. Oh and: digital board games.
>>24826645jesus christ so many things wrong with that picture in the cover, it's terrible
>>24826617But can you read and draw at the same time?Read and do the dishes?Read and take a sh- well actually, you can do that. But still.
>>24826754I feel that reading and drawing at the same time would make you halfass both.
>>24826754i read and walk or stretch at the same time, it's great. i wish i read more for that reason
>>24826754Why would I want to do those things at the same time? When I read, I read in total silence without any other distractions. One of the few pleasures of life is to get in bed or on the couch with a book and just let everything outside the book disappear.Though I read on the bus too and that's not as comfy
>>24826754>>24826795Yeah I listen to an audiobook while I walk on the treadmill :^) I still read the words on my phone and turn the pages but it's nice to have someone read to you.
>>24824086>Another Black Company book after Port of Shadows flopped. Jesus, how old is Glen Cook anyway?
Reminder that Lysander did nothing wrong and is right about reforming the society being better for humanity than Darrows failed democracy.
>>24824901Firemane is one of Feist's weaker trilogies, even fans of him will admit that. Just read Serpentwar, it's easily his peak and is pretty much standalone.
>>24825625Looking Glass Series by John Ringo
>>24825625how does hammers slammers compare to starship troopers? i tried out the first some time ago i think, but it looked basically like slop so i thought it's nothing at all like starship troopers. but maybe i stopped reading too soon
I keep wanting to continue reading Wheel of Time but every time I do I get bored to tears and stop after a few chapters.
How long do you give a book before you decide to drop it. Currently reading Empire of the Vampire and I’m not that invested but it’s still early, around chapter 7.
>>24826780I just take twice the time to get the work done.>>24826817I dunno, that's just how my brain works. It need a distraction in order to focus, ironically.
>>24826877if a book does not have me hooked by chapter 5 i just speed read it while listening to music, and keep going until something interesting happens.if it still does not hook me at any point I give up on the series
>>24826877It depends. Usually I give a book about 50 pages. If it's a big long fantasy book or something I give it 100 or so.
How does /lit/ feel about Dennis L. McKiernan?
Is there any buzz at all here for the new Tui WOF book.
>>24826877At 70 pages you should be certain whether you like it or not.
>>24826827Only matters if it's actually him writing it.
I don't read webslop or litrpg, but I gave Dungeon Crawler Carl a shot and it really is pretty good. How does /sffg/ feel about it?
>>24827024It's okay, slop but okay.
>>24827024It could be the greatest book of all time, I am not reading something called "Dungeon Crawler Carl".
>>24827078Same. I've read the summary though, and it sounds like a complete slopfest.
>>24827024https://www.goodreads.com/group/show_book/1029811-sffg?book_id=56791389
>>24827024Shit for shitheads.
>just got to the part of Way of Kings where Kaladin survived the highstormSanderson really likes making fantasy Jesus characters with names that start with K.
>>24827283Kassadin isn't really Jesus at that point in the story...
>>24824567Six or seven
>>24827024One of the rare better in audiobook format.
POV: you've been scourging the Shire with your ruffian buddies, and these four little fags show up completely decked out in epic-level gear, and they've been quaffing entish uber-elixirs.
Empire of the Vampire Challenge: Start reading the book and see how far you can get before you suffer from cringe overload. I think I got to the part about "the blood of lions flows in your veins" and couldn't take it anymore. This was worse than Reddit Rising.
>>24827429I appreciate your weak stomach to cringe. Do you have any recommendations for high action fantasy I can enjoy that doesn't involve reddittor writing. Disqualified if you talk about Redditor crawler Carl
>>24827461Saga of the Forgotten Warrior by Larry Correia. Best fight scenes I've ever read in a fantasy series. Anything David Gemmell wrote. Before I read Saga of the Forgotten Warrior I thought Gemmell wrote the best fight scenes in fantasy. Badass heroes and beautiful women in both.
>>24826336Tim Powers
>>24826336Bernard Cromwell = The Winter King
>>24827024I'm on book four and it's entertaining slop. Numbers go up and all that
>>24823615The first book is the worst, but honestly it's not really worth slogging through the first one for the rest of the series. The series of fairytales that takes up half of the last book is the highlight of the entire series. I'd put it in the same bin as Richard K. Morgan: I don't particularly care for the plot or prose, but there's interesting ideas buried in there.
>>24826336Soldier of the Mist
>>24827427Surely the wizard leading your gang can defeat them no?
>>24827464Funnily, I remember someone on here also calling that Reddit because it features a bunch of men following a woman during a war.
>>24827615Neither of those authors is at all "Reddit." All the Correia books have strong female characters, but he doesn't do the whole "stronk woman/emasculated man" humiliation ritual thing. It's not like Reddit invented women being warriors/rogues/sorcerors in fantasy anyway. Just about every fantasy game I remember from when I was a kid had a chick on the cover, and that was years before Reddit even existed. Now every time a fantasy novel has a woman who isn't completely silent and clad in a burqa there's some faggot on this site screaming "Reddit! Reddit!"
Red Rising is the worst book I've read all year.
Post red-blooded male escapist stories. Books were the macho tough guy kills the villains, saves and marries the princess, etc.
>>24827780>Saves the whore princessSo simp escapism. Recommend escapist stories where the hero curb stomps whores and homosexuals
>>24823378Das Fuher would enjoy Ghormenghast
>>24824090The setting is so cliché I couldn't read past page 10
The second book of karsa's trilogy is out
>>24827818Does he have a personality yet?
I really like the cliffhanger at the end of the first LS book where Silk walks into the room where someone is speaking like him. It is obviously Horn if you think about it or pay attention, but if you don't or didn't when it was released, you have to wait a year to find out. Good luck using the internet at the time to find out if you aren't an autist.Horn may have been partially making fun of Silk, but I think on some level, he already wanted to become like Silk.
>>24823609
>>24827840He doesn't show up I think
>>24827854I'm still mad he didn't finish it up
>>24827861When the Gene Wolfe archive releases, we can find out whether he seriously ever thought about a sequel to Sidon or not.
>>24823378The once and future king
Can someone help me making a comprehensive list of general science-fantasy fiction and subgenres encompassing all mediums?Thus far I can think of>Book Of The New Sun>Dune>Dying Earth Series>Chronicles Of Amber>Barsoom series>Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind>The Five Star Stories>Vampire Hunter D>Bastard!! Heavy Metal Dark Fantasy>Aura Battler Dunbine>Vision Of Escaflowne>Code Geass>Might & Magic series>Wizardry 6-8>Final Fantasy 6-8>Chrono Trigger>Xenoblade Chronicles
>>24828110Star Wars.Does Doom count?
>>24828110One PieceShannara
>>24828116>One PieceDoes Grove Adventure Rave count more as well technically? It's a generic shounen to it's core but the setting has shit like Modern cities, technology and cars coexisting alongside dragons, monsters and fantastical dungeons and places.
>>24828128>Modern cities, technology and cars coexisting alongside dragons, monsters and fantastical dungeons and placesIsn't that just urban fantasy? Modernity is not scifi, it's just modernity.
>>24828110Mass effect Deltron 3030
>>24828148Isn't Mass Effect just scifi though? Or are you going by "psychic powers are magic"?
>>24826827This one actually continues the story. PoS was weird interquel no one asked for.
>>24828154>Or are you going by "psychic powers are magic"?Yes?
>>24823223>/sffg/ with 200 replies>no mention of the GOATlit has fallen
>>24828235Then roughly 84% of all sci-fi ever written is just fantasy.
>>24828249>lit has fallenBecause of newfag niggers like your crossboarding spamming ass.
>>24828110Dorohedoro?Battle Angel Alita
>>24828249>Faggot spammer disappears>Thread moves slower and conversation improves.Whoa...
I picked up the Eisenhorn Omnibus on a whim. Pretty good so far. Is it worth reading all the Abnett books? There are so many.
>>24828482If you like Eisenhorn, keep reading the Ravenor books, they're more of the same but with a very different protagonist on a very different trajectory.Gaunt's Ghosts are very different, being actual war stories rather than detective work. I definitely liked the Inquisition investigating shit way more.
>>24828493Great, thanks man. I'm surprised at how good the prose can be in places given the theme. I assume it's worth sticking with these two collections? From what I've seen all the other stories (Horus etc) go on for countless volumes and I really cba with stories that have no resolution.
>>24828523Yeah Horus Heresy is just an endless series written by a gazillion different authors, no need to commit to it for the time being. Enjoy your ride with Eisenhorn for now and see where it takes you.Outside of Dan Abnett, 40k does have interesting stuff like Graham McNeil's Forges of Mars (I like it anyway) and Alex Stewart's Ciaphas Cain stories.For fantasy Warhammer, Gortek & Felix is the way to go.
>>24828529Ah I see. Thanks for the insight, noted your recommendations. Should make for some fun winter reading.
>>24828462>Conversation improvesConversation will improve when we stop having multiple Red Rising posts in every thread.
>>24826871Listen to this while readinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJtFXTIEwYQ
>>24828110anything by this nigga.
>>24828533nta but I'd also recommend the Night Lords trilogy by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, the Fabius Bile trilogy by Josh Reynolds, and Peter Fehervari's Dark Coil stuff if you're in the mood for 40k
>>24824901I'm back, because I want to complain more about this book. The more I think about it, the worse it is.1, the series begins by introducing the main characters as students of an elite Ninja clan. They don't use the word "ninja", but that's what they all for all intents and purposes.So a lot of time is spent explaining various ninja skills. Information gathering. Spying. Subterfuge. And skills at close quarter combat and archery. The three main friends are all good at something. Dante, the biggest one is the strongest. Hava the girl is the best archer. And Hatu the main character is the most observant and capable of parsing information. The narrative goes out of its way to explain this multiple times throughout the book. However, in all of the first book, there is no instance where Hava's archery serves her. There is no instance where Hatu's observational skills serve him. There is no instance where Dante's size and strength serve him.Rather, Dante's first major fight, he gets overpowered. Hatu is in a constant state of helplessness, and he doesn't understand his own feelings about Hava. And Hava just never holds a bow all book.As for their more generalized spy skills, they rarely ever use them. There's a short period of time where Hatu and Dante go on a mission and apply their skills, before they're captured, and then their skills are forgotten.Hava splits and goes to a school to learn sexy ninja skills. Except it's explicitly stated that Hava is not attractive enough, or seductive enough to have the talent. She's the tomboy type, so she just has a very awkward time in that school, where Raymond E Feist writes a bunch of awkward events of an underage girl having sex with students and teachers alike. All for it to amount to nothing, because she's bad at it, and gets taken out of class to be sent on a mission that has nothing to do with sexy skills. What a waste of pages.Dante gets sidelined as a character when he's captured and doesn't escape. Hatu escapes, reconnects with Hava, and they go on a mission where they have to pretend to be married. So they actually do apply their skill *slightly*, where they just pretend to be married, settle in a town and and gather information. It's not exactly challenging for them, because they're already in love, and all they have to do is listen for anything worth reporting to HQ. No real subterfuge, except lying about their past.At the middle of the first book, the idea that Hava might have to kill Hatu comes up. And by the end of the book, Hava is still reminded that she might have to kill Hatu. This is supposed to be a source of drama and suspense. But Raymond already made it super clear that the two are hopelessly in love. So there's no way she would ever kill him. So there is no real drama there. Predictably, this objective is sidelined in the second book. Probably because Raymond realized in between books how stupid it was.
I am rereading The Last Legends of Earth, and am reminded of my disappointment toward this general's lack of variety and refusal to branch out. The man has an active website where he still writes regularly although his previous publisher's-made site is no longer existent, taken over by Chinese spam ads.And these damn zōtl are some of the most diabolical sickening creatures in fiction. Maybe AAA knew we were in a loosh farm all along but retains the more optimistic ideology.
>>24828922I didn't mention the other main character: Declan. A blacksmith. He starts off as an apprentice who just recently became a master after finishing his masterpiece: a magically crafted sword that's stronger and sharper than your typical sword. Capable of turning any battle in capable hands. Declan is told the secret of crafting such weapons, which requires special sand that's acquired from some far off special location.So this guy who can create magical swords has his village attacked, and it forces him to leave the village and open up his own forge in another larger town.The thing about this guy, is they focus on his amazing crafting talent. He's the youngest to become a master, and he learns everything super fast. He's also a bastard to noble, though he doesn't know it. In a way, his character parallel's Hatu's. In that, Hatu is an orphaned prince, and comes from the Firemane lineage. The firemanes are supposed to be superior craftsman in every respect. As fire is the source of both destruction and creation. They are all the most talented artists in the world. However, Hatu doesn't display such talents. Rather Declan does. Declan the orphan of a noble, but NOT a firemane. He's the one who displays his creative talent. In a way, Declan's story arc is what Hatu's should be. They both end up in the same town, with strong women in their lives, who they recently marry, and then they both lose everything when the town is raided. Hava survives the raid, but Declan's wife doesn't.After the raid, it feels like the whole story was reset. Hava and Hatu's information gathering no longer matters. Declan's rise in governance in the town no longer matters. Suddenly, it becomes about Hava and Hatu having sailing adventures. On two different boats. Hava first becoming a slave, then escaping and taking the slave boat, becoming a captain. Hatu being kidnapped by a secret group of people who wants to take him to a secret location, so he can awaken his Firemane powers.Dante reenters the story as a brainwashed servant of the people who captured him in book 1. They send him on a mission to kill Hatu. But this story goes nowhere. Dante recovers his memories, wanders a bit, and then realizes he's been brainwashed, and reveals the fact to people who want to protect Hatu. Essentially ruining his mission. He never encounters Hatu, or anyone of real consequence. So he's entirely harmless and pointless.Hatu still doesn't use his observational skills for anything. But he FINALLY displays magic at the end of book 2.(yes I finished the book, despite saying I wasn't)Hava does actually use some Ninja skills at the end of book 2 in order to take another ship. But it's too little too late. They take the ship at the end of the book, when that should have happened much earlier. Then because Raymond botched the structure of the story, he reunites Hava and Hatu in a super rushed Epilogue. Literally just time skips, and gives them a couple pages.
>>24828967Also, despite Hava supposing to be the archery character, Raymond introduces another female archer midway through the first book named Molly. Molly and Hava become friends, so that's kind of cool. But it also feels a little redundant. Because Molly does all the shooting. Hava only shoots twice in two books. Once to kill a deer, and then once more to kill a couple of defenders when they take the ship. the rest of the shooting is left to Molly.Declan's story after the raid, goes in a weird direction. He loses the use of his arm from an injury, and so he doesn't do any blacksmithing or fighting. Instead just following a mercenary company around, vowing to one day create them weapons when he's healed. Then he learned how to fight with his left hand and develops a two handed style when his arm heals. And then reunites with his old master and vows to make those secret magical weapons. But that's all pushed to book 3. I'm supposing that they will have to make the journey to that secret place to get sand to make weapons. But knowing Raymond, he will stretch the plotline out until the very end of the book, and then tell us about all the weapons they created in an epilogue.But anyway, the blacksmith isn't blacksmithing.The fire mage isn't magicing fireThe archer isn't archering.The powerful brainwashed fighter isn't fightingIt's baffling how underutilized these character skills are. Raymond wastes more time explaining what things on a ship are called than showing us the characters doing anything interesting.
>>24828922>>24828967>>24828990>three posts of regurgitating the contents of a book
>>24829028We got a real Hatu over here.
>>24828948AAA is great. Very underrated
>>24824086Are the black company books any good?
