ye olde: >>24835665Recommended 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>Thread Question:What's your favourite decade of sci-fi?
The Lord of the Rings is not merely a story about good triumphing over evil — it is a theological fever dream of racial purification masquerading as high fantasy. Beneath the pastoral pipe-weed and the quaint Shire cheer lies a myth of moral and racial hygiene so absolute that it annihilates nuance itself. Tolkien’s world is divided not by ideology or class, but by blood and essence. Elves are angelic, Men are fallible but redeemable, Dwarves are stubborn craftsmen — and Orcs? Orcs are the damned: industrial, faceless, and irredeemably other.The orcs are the colonized, the enslaved, the dark-skinned laborers of Middle-earth’s moral economy. Created through torture and corruption — a mythic eugenics parable — they are denied even the possibility of grace. Their every act is wicked by nature, their voices a cacophony, their speech mocked as gibberish. They are the brown masses upon which the shining West defines itself. When the “Free Peoples” march to destroy Sauron, they are not liberating Middle-earth; they are enacting a crusade of cleansing, a pogrom sanctified by divine light.The destruction of the Ring — the so-called victory of Good — is the moment of absolute spiritual colonization. The Ring, symbol of power, desire, and autonomy, is cast into the fire not to save the world but to reaffirm that no subaltern hand may ever wield mastery. Power itself must be destroyed rather than allowed to fall into the “wrong” hands, meaning of course, the hands of the impure. Frodo’s journey is not redemptive; it is penitential, a pilgrimage of racial purity culminating in the ritual erasure of the very possibility of orcish sovereignty.And the aftermath? Mordor burns, its peoples slaughtered without mercy. The text offers no mourning, no remembrance, no funerary honor — because in Tolkien’s theology, the orc is not a being but a blasphemy. The “new age” of Men is nothing less than the triumph of a monotheistic, agrarian, Euro-Christian order over the polytheistic, industrial, and “sin-stained” pagan realm. The orcs’ defeat is genocide written as eschatology — the total obliteration of the racialized Other as the final step toward divine harmony.The world ends in pastoral silence, the machines stopped, the forges quenched, the “monstrous” races vanished. It is the peace of the grave — the dream of a racially and spiritually pure world. And in that silence, one can almost hear the ghosts of the orcs whispering: We were here! You just called it evil.
are all the eragon books good or do they drop off?just started reading the first book and is pleasantly surprised
MALAZAN IS DOGSHIT
>>24846313 Based
>>24846291 The fist one released when I was in middle school and I enjoyed reading them every release. Can’t say I’m looking to read them again as an adult.
>>24846313I disagree but let’s move on to another topic. How’s your mother?
>>24846313filtered
>>24846281SAM
>>24846291They are derivative slop but they can be enjoyable if you switch your mind off to it. They do improve a bit but not massively.
>>24845931>YA? But it wasn't told from first-person perspectivewhat does that have to do with anything>good half of the words in the books are Jordan describing clothes or the environment with autistic detailDescribing things is not a criteria. Not only that, I didn’t even notice the descriptions being excessive. Redwall describes food in autistic detail and it is made of children (though Redwall was actually a good YA book)>You can call it derivative or boringYes >hardly YAIt’s literally teen angst chosen one but also your teen angst friends are also powerful chosen ones complete with push pull teen romance and does (s)he like me omg and also your whole small town is secretly badass and your dad was a master swordsman and I just don’t care. If it’s not made for children then that’s a major fuckup because there is no subject I could care less about than teenagers trying to figure out how to talk to girls.
>>24846281what’s that hook thing on the spas 12?
>>24846291Theyre books for children, do you enjoy reading YA? If you do youll enjoy them.
>>24846384I'm still reading the first book (19/24). I pretty much enjoy itIt's a fun and easy (compared to the main ten and those Tiste books) read so far. The Teblor POV is very goodThe new marines are funny, though some of the jokes didn't land on meNew lore on the Jheck. A brief glimpse of Icarium's new warren. Also, new godsSometimes he went a bit too far with the fanservice imo but ehh some may enjoy itI haven't got to the war stuff yet, but it's SE's strong point so I don't think it will disappoint methe book is also self-contained. So far there is only one "the fuck does that even mean" scene
I like D&D novels
>>24846387folding stock
>>24846291I reread them ahead of the new one (Murtagh) last year and the first two were still comfy and fun slop. The third and fourth one made me want to kms with how atrociously bad and bloated they were. Murtagh was shit as well, had to force myself to finish it.
fantasy for this feel?
Im not enjoying this book. Im at page 200 and almost nothing has happened and he could have easily summarised those 200 pages in around 40. Are all Iain M Bank's books as boring and disorganised as this one?
>>24846313It's worse than dogshit.
>>24846481Ok so Iain M Banks 'scifis' are mostly an excerise in world building with a bit of character development, and he does tend to meander a bit. Also I have a feeling that his later book were edited a lot less. Consider Phlebas and Player of Games most likely had editors that chopped off a lot of the chaff, and The Algebraist was written on the cusp of this stopping. If you want to continue I think the Algebraist picks up about half way through if I recall. The needle like ships which mechanically compact down with crew safely inside to traverse wormholes a few metres across, and the ensuing chaos when they arrive is a memorable moment.
I finished A Night in the Lonesome October. Lots of fun and lots of references to uncover, as expected of Zelazny, although it made me realise that reading one chapter a day is really not for me. I really enjoyed Snuff as our POV, especially when he tried to pretend he was a dumb dog or discovered incredible human tricks like opening doors (like a dumb dog). The Great Detective was an unexpected favourite as well, seeing how I never cared about Holmes. I enjoyed the chapter about Snuff's kidnapping and the one featuring Kadath the best. Great way of combining dark comedy with genuine tense moments and a dash of the surreal. The ending felt a bit abrupt, but it was worth it for the dumb pun.
>>24846655Im halfway through so I might as well continue. His prose isnt bad at all, and he is quite funny but the book could have benefited from a good editor.
Any recommendations for books like Reverend Insanity?>>24846281the spas 12 is a total piece of shit I don't know why it's so popular
>>24846751cause it looks cool genius
>>24846856It looks like the piece of shit it is.
>>24846751>the spas 12 is a total piece of shit I don't know why it's so popularSaid the RIfag.
Why is wng being repeatedly nuked?
>>24846913Probably some new janny going above and beyond for their pay, or they really hate webnovels for done reason
>>24846700I finished it yesterday too! It will be my go to yearly October read.
>>24846481if you can't make it through the algebraist of all things, you just shouldn't be reading. shouldn't be allowed to read. or do much of anything.
>>24847021>Probably some new janny going above and beyond for their payHow much do they get paid?
What am I in for? I hear from the ether that it's peak modern fantasy. Whatever '" peak modern fantasy written post 2010s" means. I take that with a handful of salt.
>>248470430 dollars
>>24847045>peak modern fantasy written post 2010s" means.trash. it means trash.
>>24846289orcs are supposed to be asians
>>24846289imagine publicly identifying yourself as an orc
>>24847028Its Banks' worst book. 500 pages could have been summarized into 50.
>>24847045>>24847050is it pozzed?
>>24847144It is Banks' best book by a longshot.
>>24847149
>>24846289Are the Orcs meant to be German, because there is nothing industrious about blacks or browns...
>>24847049what is that in pesos
>>24846481>Im at page 200 and almost nothing has happenedAre you me? The only SF book by him I liked was Feersum Endjinn although I skipped the TXT chapters.Anyway, Brits can't write space opera and Banks is a good example of it.
>>24846655>Consider Phlebas and Player of Games most likely had editors that chopped off a lot of the chaff>mfw those two books already had a lot of chaff
>>24847189While I agree with you on The Algebraist being trash, I think some British SF authors cab write decent space opera , e.g. Reynolds and Adam Roberts.
>>24847191Should The Culture novels be read in order of publication? Ive been told you can start anywhere with them and theyre not really related.
>>24847237I haven't read them and I don't think I'll like them. Stephen Baxter I want to read, since he's a disciple of Arthur C. Clarke and that makes me hopeful.>>24847243No idea, but do that just in case.
Hey again /sffg/. Been out a while. What's new with you?You all up on the Feral Historian? Really love his takes.
>>24847272Ron Howard?
Is it worth the read?
>>24847315Never heard of it. Hope this helps.
>>24847315((Silverberg)) Is generally really good. And he's written like 3 great sff
>>24847152>containment thread for litrpg indian botnet posts totally irrelevant to a dead board and a dead medium>thread regulars read at a 5th grade levelchecks out, but sometimes I forget.
>>24846374That guy doesn't know what YA is, but neither do you. It's really telling that you can read 2 books of Wheel of Time and the only thing you take away from it is "angst" and "teen romance" when 90% of the book is adventure.
>>24847315dont know but the cover looks kino
>>24847315 Overrated and is only famous because he's jewish.
>>24847315It's great, short and pyschedelic but it doesn't go totally off the deep end like his Son of Man
Anyone read his new novella?
>>24846313TRVKE. It's entirely a vehicle for 1) the author's trash D&D setting all his friends were obviously tired of hearing about and 2) his fat fetish.
>>24846289>Tolkien’s world is divided not by ideology or class, but by blood and essence.Just like real life, you fucking retarded communist.
>>24847417>it’s adventure For children.
>>24847514https://warosu.org/lit/thread/24767428#p24774827
>>248473151960s and 1970s Silverberg is great.
>>24846913>mod deleting generalsHe'll probably lose his mod status for actually enforcing quality on this website. Like modcat. If only he'd do the same to /sffg/.
>>24846913One spamtranny from here started creating duplicate threads so now janny is banning them on sight
>>24847810>enforcing qualityFrog posts still stay up. You have to be kidding me.
Have you considered Red Rising?
>>24847514Just finished it. Liked it a lot. But I'm a sucker for feudal future/ancient relics.
>>24848534WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!
>>24848568 https://youtu.be/Rt0spqQtMKg
>>24847315kino
I always see this guy in the b section on used book stores while I look Bakker stuff. Is his stuff any good?
>>24846418same
>>24846387>A unique feature of the folding-stock variants is the butt hook. With the stock extended, the hook can be pushed in and turned 90 degrees to the left or right, to fit under the user's forearm. This is to enable the shotgun to be fired with one hand; e.g. while abseiling/rappelling, or from a vehicle window while driving. The hook can be released from the buttplate completely by turning 180 degrees. it's a pistol brace
I’m almost done writing my first novel and my biggest fear is that when it’s done, and out in the world, nobody will care.
>>24849087>writing for others and commercial success/recognitionngmi
>>24848246Kys
I finished Dogsbody. It was all right, definitely a children's book, so not for me. It started off strong and the beginning where we see the world through dog eyes was interesting and touching, but then the story lost its charm to me and I can't even tell why. While it did touch on some serious topics, I feel that it was limited by its intended readership, so the writer couldn't really explore them as they deserved to be.I didn't really care about those topics myself, but enjoyed the concept of the luminaries, their relation to Earth, the nature-mythology connection. Pity it was underused, but then again, the focus was on something else. Who knows, maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I were younger.
Looking for some good short story collection recommendations. Fantasy and Scfi
>>24849311Arcanum UnboundedBy Brandon "Lord Ruler" Sandersson
>>24849311The Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson(PBUH).
>>24849311Picrel is kino scifi, all short stories.
>>24849087You shouldn't worry about that - it's almost assuredly the case. Unless you're incredibly lucky, your first book will launch to only a handful of readers, even if you do all the marketing right. If you do it right, the next one will launch to more, and the one after that even more, and your backbook will grow in popularity with each release as well.You'll likely never make more than pocket change with it, even if traditionally published.
>>24848907 Not sure if the author is a man or a woman.
>>24849311pick up anything edited by Gardner Dozois with the word "best" in the title and you're probably in for kino
>>24846289One of the most ringing endorsements of Tolkien ever written. Let us not forget that in his much-vaunted response to Nazi Germany, his FIRST action was to scrupulously deny Jewish ancestry before protesting the question having ever been asked.Tolkien truly was the Sam Hyde of the 20th century, complete with developing a secret language only he and his select few friends could speak.
>>24846289Any books where orcs/orc-like creatures rape whitx women? Looking for a new book to goon to
Is it weird to want to put science (not like twenty page long explanations of how elf sperm is different than human sperm), but stuff where your noggin might jog for a second, in fantasy?
>>24849984Supplementary question to this one, any books where male humans wrestle and dominate orc women who are bigger than them? Bonus points if they are short kings.
Should I give Tawny Man a shot if I enjoyed most of the Farseer trilogy but hated the ending?
>>24849984Mary Gentle's Grunts has orcs stealing cursed weapons from a dead dragon's horde. The curse turns the thieves into the people the dragon stole the weapons from. The weapons were stolen from the United States Marine Corps. The orcs proceed to rape every elf and halfling woman and child they encounter, as the story spirals out of control and peters out most unsatisfyingly, but you do get your cuck fantasy, so don't complain to me about the rest of it.
>>24850055I'd say so but I liked the whole Fitz series. The last trilogy is a bit shit though
>>24850074Elves are immortal Aryan warriors, one should be worth ten or fifteen piggers in a fair fight.
>Niven will die before we ever get another Ringworld novel
Just finished this book, only took about 2 or so hours. I enjoyed the imagery of the mythological creatures and how it intertwined with the characters and all, but it wasn't my thing. Good short read though.
>>24850424movie is cool check it out. Especially the effects and yellow face. Was same guys that did the Star Wars effects a few years later.
>>24849311The Martian Chronicles are great if you've never read it.
>>24850423I hope he doesn't.
Why do I never see /sffg/ talk about Weis+Hickman? Are they really that obscure?
>>24850423This was the comfiest scifi novel I've read in a very long time.
>>24850457I've read the Bronze Canticles by Tracy and Laura Hickman. It was a long time ago, now. I thought it was very cool to tell a story across 3 different worlds which were layered over one another.
>>24847532Most of his readership, which numbers in the millions, are adults who read him as adults. His books are also marketed to adults. So you're wrong in every sense, but undoubtedly in the character of this place you will insist you are correct regardless of objective reality. You call his books childish based on nothing but your own warped view of maturity which is likely so laughable you will not dare articulate it here.
>>24850457If it's not on tik-tok it doesn't get discusses.
>>24850423what is there left to write about the thing?
>>24850479Ummm... it's literally absurdly, insanely massive. You could make any story about exploring it and finding weird, interesting shit on it.
>>24850487don't make me tap the sign
>>24850495What sign? There is no sign.
>>24850503>>24850487someday I'll finally get around to writing my magnum opus about a company of batshit crazy mercenaries exploring a ringworld built by aboleths.
>>24850217tfw ten elves, who have collectively trained for like three hundred years, die to a single musket shot
>>24850423Niven is still alive? Holy shit. I read that one where the guy gets put in a new body and shot off into space but intentionally fucks up his trajectory, so they Email his manager's soul to him and it ends up possessing the ship and then they crash back on Earth 10 billion years in the future and it's like Lord of the Flies but with more sex.Thought it was pretty cool, always upset he didn't continue that one.
>>24850531>D&D slop mentioned Lame.
>>24850540Plunging fire wasn't really a thing until cartridge rifles entered the scene, a musket might (rarely) kill two guys standing in a row. Musketeers stood in ranks.Now while we would assume that an elf with a bow would mog a musketeer absolutely, it would depend, obviously. The duskier and browner the musketeer, the more extreme his mogging would necessarily be. Swarthoids are notoriously inept marksmen, and worse, notoriously prone to panic and flight, because the melanin in their skin seeps into their amygdala and causes increased cortisol release in stressful situations. Ever seen a brown person reload a musket quickly? No of course not, and this is for a good reason.Orcs, obviously being swarthy and dark in countenance, could not possibly be expected to lay down continuous and effective fire. Especially not against Elves, who are white, and thus emit a racism field that oppresses swarthoids, filling them with a fear of work, and a desire to steal and play loud music.
>>24850551there are some D&D slop settings capable of hosting kino, but if it's not to your taste I can't say I blame you.
Does Severian's Bizarre Adventure actually get a plot at some point? I'll accept one in the later books if I have to.
Are there good audiobooks that make me feel the same way that hearing Darkest Dungeon Narration does?
>>24850576Most plebs finish the book and say "THERE WAS NO PLOT WTF"Real high iq niggas know there was an insane plot there the entire timeDon't be the former but if you are a plotfag there might be little hope
>>24850613Blood Meridian might be the closest in tone and content. I don't know if anyone has attempted it in the guttural throat-cancer mode of darkest dungeon.
>>24850621>dude the SUBTEXTqueer response
>>24850576Maybe the real plot was the stories we told along the way.
>>24850645It's not subtext. The reason the events aren't super obvious is that Severian is very very oblivious. If you're paying any attention at all it's really clear what's going on, the narrator is just autistic.
>>24850576>>24850663Don't get me wrong, the world is interesting, the vibes are on point, and I'm really into it. I'm just past the avern duel and I predicted who the opponent was, but I just expected a normal book.
>>24850669It's not a normal book. It's more like a puzzle, where you have to take what you've observed throughout the story and use it to fill in the blanks that Severian is too autistic to put together himself. It takes a bit of getting used to but once you actually start realizing what's happening you'll get moments where a bunch of stuff that already happened is recontextualized into something completely different.You're also very early in, just keep going. I ended up reading the first book three times before I started the second.
>>24850669>I just expected a normal bookwhat
