Cover Art Edition>Old:>>25044072>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
>>25050922Interzone is the only good science fiction magazine after Orbit died.
A.E. Van Vogt's Slan if it was good :3
>>25050922I miss old Sanderson. Words of Radiance is one of the best sf books ever written
>>25050946>The Way of Kings is one of the best sf books ever written.ftfy
ROGGAS could be here" he thought, "I've never been in this quartent before. There could be roggas anywhere." The cool wind felt good against his exposed skin. "I HATE ROGGAS" he thought. Seismic tremors reverberated his entire body, making it pulsate even as the safe circulated through his powerful thick veins and washed away his (merited) fear of non-humans. "With a comm, you can survive anything" he said to himself, out loud.
>>25049248>KEW's estate is only interested in releasing in expensive paperbacksWhy? Isn't that a finite market? Most of the people that'd buy the hardbacks were fans of Wagner to begin with, and once that pre-existing base gets their copies whatever sales they get will drop.
>>25050946It’s cause he doesn’t use the same editor anymore. I believe he either has a new one or doesn’t use one at all and you can tell from Rhythm of War onwards.
>>25051013Bigger per-copy cut. Then again, it's not the expensive that's necessarily the problem but rather that Centipede Press are being retarded with a small print run.
>>25050922Is Corporation Wars worth getting into?
>>25051013I have no idea>>25051130Some of the art on the centipede press versions is sub-par as well. Kane is supposed to be 6 foot tall and 300 pounds of lean muscle yet they draw kane as far more skinny than he's described as.
>>25050922Post cover art so good it made you buy the book. Pic related.
>>25050946>>25050987>>25051115Normalfags already ruining another thread.
>>25051250>NormalfagsYou're on a normalfag website
>>25051251You got a point. The website has been infested and raided by normalfags for far longer than it has not. Not that normalfags have any idea how long 4chan has been around, what with their newfag revisionist history rhetoric.
>>25051130AWOOGA!
Red Rising
Post the>last book you read>current book you are reading>next book you plan to read
>>25051336>last book you readNeuromancer>current book you are readingTrullion: Alastor 2262>next book you plan to readThe Glamour
>>25051336Bayne?
>>25051336>count of monte cristo>first law the blade itself>probably the sequel
>>25051147I'll take them over the abominations that are the ebook covers.Whoever decided on those should be hanged.
>>25051336>guard! guard!>royal assassin>probably either the sequel or another terry pratchett book or curse of mistwraith
>>25051336Goshawk Squadron, not fantasticThe Once and Future KingNo idea
>>25051336>>last book you readThe LotR trilogy>>current book you are readingShadowmarch by Tad Williams>>next book you plan to readThe sequel to Shadowmarch, Shadowsomething
>>25050922>>25050922I've been slowly reading Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros for a few weeks, and, apart from a rather strange opening that probably could've been excised, it's a strong, powerful book whose prose is though somewhat choppy at times, is rarely if ever stiff and has an force that only Medieval works like The Song of Roland (which I read ntla) have. Very unfortunate that this book has largely been forgotten except for a few Tolkien aficionados (though Tolkien himself was adverse to Eddison's Nietzschean narrative, about the champions of two nations awkwardly named Demonland and Witchland fighting one another in bouts of honed might) and scholars of Ante-Tolkien fantasy who are always a minority within a minority in sff fans. I did find a centennial edition (picrel) but it's only in French and features new illustrations, and sfaik there's not been an English translation since.source of picrel:https://www.patreon.com/posts/announcement-62839708
>>25051356I'm genuinely curious what the story behind the ebook covers is. Did someone make a mistake when commissioning them? Was it done intentionally as some kind of joke? Do the people handling the KEW estate just have no idea what the books are even about? It's very strange.
>>25051402>The sequel to Shadowmarch, ShadowsomethingShadowapril, duh.
>>25051408They're from a library of stock images. i've seen them used before on other self published fantasy novels. whoever was doing the kane kindle just picked them out of a stock photo image collection because they're muscular barbarians with swords
>have to try and finish Mistborn again now that it will be relevant to StormlightGGGGGAAAAAAAAUUUHHHHH.
>last time these threads were interesting, some dude was spamming essays about why bakkers crusade wannabe war sucked
>>25051336King in YellowBloody Crown of ConanEither Litany of the Long Sun or A Vintage from AtlantisI want to read Way of Kings but I have no motivation due to the series' decline
>>25051500Bakker discourse has declined precipitously since the departure of the Bakker poets
>>25051466enjoy your seven books
>>25051466Just read AI summaries of them. There are many websites that do that
>>25051317Lysansder psychoSpikeMustang and Pax dieSevro is Apollonius's sleeper agentAtlas cloneThe real Volsung Fa
>>25051516*thirteenI 100% believe that Brando thinks he's gonna rule the Cosmere when he dies
>>25051515>the Bakker poetswhom?
>>25051543>he doesn't knowa bygone chapter in /sffg/ history, suffice to say
>>25051519no
>>25051599"Sanderson rages and screamsEnvious, pants full of creamWith Bakker he cannot competeWorks of wisdom full replete"Basically short vulgar declarations of Bakker's supremacy over Sanderson. Where the poets have gone, none can say, but it is prophesized that with their return they will sweep away all discourse concerning the realism of Malazan's characters and the logistics of Prince of Nothing's crusade
>>25051608>and the logistics of Prince of Nothing's crusadeSo that guy wasnt the only one who thought the Vulgar Holy War didnt make sense? Or is this based on him?
>>25050922Are there any good fantasy novels out there that aren't aping Tolkien/Jordan, or aren't just obnoxious crap?
>>25051614Yes
>>25050922Are there any more books like The Worm Ouroboros >>25051407 or is it all faggot crap>>25051623give me recommendations, plz
>>25051624>give me recommendations, plzBe more specific in stuff you're looking for and you'll get some recs.
>>25051336>last book you readWarcraft: The Well of Eternity by Richard Knaak. Comfy. Book 1 in the War of the Ancients.>current book you are readingSpellbound by Larry Correia. Book 2 in the Grimnoir Chronicles.>next book you plan to readProbably the next book in the War of the Ancients series, or maybe I'll finish up Frederik Pohl's short stories. At some point I need to start Path of the Eldar again.
>/wng/ has dozens of authors>/sffg/ has… two?
>>25051635The barrier to entry to becoming a traditionally published novelist is a lot higher than just uploading to a self publishing site. There's fewer big names, and fewer overlap in who reads the big names, but mostly it's just who autistically spams the general the most and bakkerfag has everybody beat on that account.
>>25051614People who ask this invariably haven't read anything so I have no idea why you're even asking. Literally pick something at random off any recommendation chart and you'll probably enjoy it, since you clearly haven't read anythign.
>>25050940Is there an English Translation of this?>>25051130Is Bloodstone worth reading?>>25051226Worth reading? The cover doe seem really cool.>>25051336You should add>Was the last book you read worth readingIs Sword of Bayne worth reading?>>25051344Was Neuromancer good?>>25051407Worth reading? I can't help but notice that in English its "The Worm Ouroborus" and not Serpent/Dragon after a quick google search.>Why the fuck are you spamming people with the same thing you fucking autistic bot?I'm looking for recommendations that is more than just "spoonfeed me books" and the only way I can think of doing that is just by directly asking about the books to generate a discussion about it.
>>25051226I realized after I bought it that it's book 2 of a series. Haven't read book 1 yet. But it's David Weber, and I've liked the other books I've read by him.
>>25051614earthsea? book of the new sun? chronicles of amber?
>>25051336>last book you readThe Thousandfold Thought>current book you are readingViriconiumThe Judging Eye>next book you plan to readNot sure. If I don't get burnt out on Second Apocalypse then I will continue reading the next book in the Aspect-Emperor series, otherwise I might read Tarka the Otter or continue Malazan and read Reaper's Gale
>>25050922Are there any publishers of old fantasy, preferable before the middle of the 20th Century?
>>25050922I should have specified if there are any publishers or any major releases of some fantasy works by those of Dunsany and Eddison but I'm so flummoxed rn as to how to word my question right.
>>25051336>The Boat of a Million Years>Acts of God (eh, trying too hard)>Ozymandias (Monteleone)
>>25051681>earthsea?are these philosophical like some claim the author generally is?
>>25051336Dungeon crawler carl 4Claw of the ConcilliatorDungeon crawler carl 5
>>25051658>You should addThat's a good consideration but I assumed that people would discuss their last or current book within their post and at least provide enough information as to whether it were worth reading or not.>>25051835>Dungeon crawler carl Claw of the ConcilliatorSay that 5 times fast!
>Apple making a mistborn and stormlight tv showhonestly probably the better option based on the stuff they’ve already madehttps://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/brandon-sandersons-mistborn-stormlight-archive-movie-tv-1236487271/
>>25051854You never answered if Sword of Bayne is worth reading, anon.
>>25051658>Was Neuromancer good?Honestly, it's an important work and you can really taste the massive influence that it has had, so it's worth reading. Cool concepts in there too. Unfortunately the prose is really bad. At times, abysmal.
>>25051624>>25051658Many posters here are happy to give recommendations, but you have to give us an idea of your taste otherwise we'd just be shilling random books at you
>>25051624The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson Lyonesse by Jack Vance The Sword of Welleran and Other Stories by Lord Dunsany
>>25051869I highly doubt that anon has actually read any of the booksAll he does is post the covers and not contribute to any discussion
>>25051909Years of shilling to secure maybe one or two sales (or more likely downloads), he's a special character
https://screenrant.com/apple-tv-brandon-sanderson-cosmere-adaptation-deal-mistborn/>Sanderson’s devoted fanbase was likely a key factor in securing the unbelievable arrangement. Additionally, he is an incredibly successful writer, selling more than 50 million copies of his books globally. Those were likely key factors for Apple TV to agree to allow him so much control over all future projects that they collaborate on.apologize
>>25051886Okay, I'll add it to the list this year of books to read>>25051909Sad it true
>>25051929your books are hot ass and your fans are retarded
>>25051612No, I was just annoyed with that fag for textwalling the whole prior thread.
>>25051886>>25051932I found Neuromancer legit unreadable. I couldn't even follow what was happening half the time.
>>25052002I'm asking this honestly and not trying to shit on you or make fun of you:Do you think it was more the writer's fault or your fault?
>>25051929Well he finally got the deal he wanted. >Apple TVI had a feeling it might be them. Apple TV is actually pretty good based on the shows I've watched from them.
>>25051750The books are so short you can read them in an afternoon and are about a young wizard. What are you scared of?
why do so many women say Brandon Sanderson is a sexist? I only hear it irl though
>>25052115Sounds like made up cope for why he sells so well and I'm willing to bet if you take those accusations seriously it's going to be a clip or a writing of him saying: "Women writers do X" or "I don't like [insert female author here]".
>>25052117One chick was like>Kelsier mansplains the magic system to Vinand I'm like "bro that's just Sanderson's autism having the master overexplain the magic system to the apprentice also he shoves her off a cliff to force her to learn" and I'm pretty sure she just took Sanderson's mass lore infodump onto Vin personally.The other one said she remembered something sexist and not liking it because it was sexist but can't remember what that sexist thing was.
>>25052120You can easily dismantle that argument by saying: "Why is Vin female then?". I think you're right that she either took it personally or is one of those people that just thinks any sort of disrespect to a woman be it fictional or real, is some how misogyny cause she isn't some sort of Mary Sue girlboss.
>>25052054I just want to know whether theyre philosophical. It doesnt matter how short something is, if its not worth it, its not worth it. I can't explain why. You wouldnt understand. Poor to Middling Quality corrodes.
>>25052121>she isn't some sort of Mary Sue girlboss.she is.
>>25051869Yes it is. Not even lengthy, an easy afternoon read.>>25051909I've talked about it plenty of times before and even posted my own physical books. Nobody cares about non-megapopular books. Some weirdo read the summary blurb then tried to write a bad review about it once lol>I don't read so nobody reads!
>>25052125>>I don't read so nobody reads!Nice projection, you're still a spamming faggot
>>25052125>Yes it is. Not even lengthy, an easy afternoon read.Is this book self-published because whoever thought this was a good cover for a hardback needs to get fired.
>The Whore Victim chapter *yawn* better be enough Achaiman in this chapter
>>25050925As someone who has tried like 8 different subscriptions and shorty story publications over the past 2 years I'm not sure I can take another disappointment.Is it actually good or am I being trolled? Is it a physical publication? Digitally only stuff isn't for me.
>>25052132You told me I didn't read because you said so. Stop trying to disrupt on-topic discussion.
>>25051130I know there are rights issues with stuff getting reprinted but I have a massive backlog anyways.What are the chances of this shit getting reprinted in the next 10 years or so? Has there been any community/internet led effort to demonstrate numbers of people who would pay for this? A gay little petition or GoFundMe thingy?
>>25051886Out of the 250 scifi books I've read over the past 3 years it was in my top 5 most over hyped and overrated books. I only liked the very beginning of it.
>>25052148>You told me I didn't readI replied to another anon saying I highly doubt you did, moron>Stop trying to disrupt on-topic discussionWhat discussion? Nothing you post has any substance
>>25052159>You didn't read these books because I said soStop disrupting on-topic discussion. Every fucking thread, somebody comes here and decides to shit all over the walls.
Something I've been thinking about is, is it me, or are genuine Lancer archetypes actually kinda rare? Like a character who is a loyal member of the hero group with relative importance to the protagonist, but has significant moral and/or worldview opposition with the protagonist.
>Esemet has banger sex, encounters black cum then vomitswhat is this goofy ass shit?
no, not the cum of a black man, literal black coloured cum kek
>>25052215Did it feel, smell, or smell weird or something? Or was it just black?
>>25052215Know what's bad? I know exactly what book you're reading solely based off black cum, despite never reading a word myself.
>>25052221its a weird juxtaposition because of how much she makes clear that he was handsome and she enjoyed the sex, but she describes the room afterwards as an "inhuman stench of rutting" and i only know rutting, from deer, when male bucks become retards who chase around does till they get tired of running and let the buck fuck emshe also describes him as smelling of myrrh which i dont know what is yet, i assume ill learn about it sooner or laterits obviously supposed to give off the vibe of him being some kind of demonic being that only looks human.pretty boring chapter, could have done without the gay descriptions of sex personally
>>25052230hes that infamous about his rape and sex and rape and sex writing hmm?
>>25052235Myrrh is a resin made from certain trees. Used in perfume and medicine. Apparently, it smells like dried fruit and wood smoke.
>>25052244doesn't seem like something to vomit over, assuming "inhuman rutting" is just a fancier way of describing "animalistic raw human sex" i guess she vomited over the shame of selling out like a worthless whore
>>25051700>>25051706Dover
>>25051139depends on whether its woke or not
>>25052235>>25052244Myrrh was used for embalming the dead in antiquity. The implication is the guy's a reanimated corpse.
>>25051147300 lbs of mostly lean muscle on a 6' frame is freak of nature huge. That's like slightly smaller than peak Ronnie Coleman.
>>25052327>The implication is the guy's a reanimated corpse.Interesting, and even more disgusting than prior thought. Thanks for the clarification.
>>25050988Based. TOTAL ROGGA DEATH.>>25051317Red God better come out on time.>>25051336>Piranesi>Too Like the Lightning>Seven Surrenders
Hadrian should have banged Anaïs in that cave and made that Tavrosi bitch watch.
>>25052434It's Hadrian. It would have been pages of autistic screeching about how she's raping him and how he deserves it or something, then even more pages of him huddling in a ball, naked, vomiting and shitting himself.
>>25050922Does anyone here read sci-fi short stories, I'm still searching for a collection of them that had to do with sex. It was a 70s-90s collection of stories, maybe they were all from the same writer, I don't know.>One story is about a spy from Earth infiltrating another human civilization that all wear masks. They are all saggy, old, and/or ugly but when he puts on the masks they become beautiful and the world becomes more vibrant. They also eat some sort of fruit that might also make them hallucinate. The spy gets married and eventually goes native.>Another story I remember was a platoon of humans near a crashed alien ship with a female alien pilot held captive. They spend the whole time basically talking to each other and one of them is doing a crossword and is looking for "another word for corn". The MC leaves and comes back to find that the platoon and the alien captive are gone with the crossword filled out with "RAPE" on it.Those are the only two short stories that I can really remember or that stand out to me. I read this all the way back in middle school so whoever was buying and approving the books (because I checked it out at my library) wasn't doing their due diligence.
>>25052469>The MC leaves and comes back to find that the platoon and the alien captive are gone with the crossword filled out with "RAPE" on it.I'm sure they gently walked her home.
>>25052486kek, I guess I have no choice then to just start reading old short story anthologies in the hopes of finding it.
>>25052469The mask one sounds familiar.
>>25052503There's a frustrating amount of sci-fi stories that involve a masked society for some reason, the only other detail I can remember is that they might have worshiped nature and there was some sort of bubble force field that was protecting them that they said was their Goddess or something. I'm 100% sure that there was a bubble, not sure about the Goddess detail or the nature thing, I might be getting that confused with Avatar.
>>25052508That sounds familiar for some reason. Have you tried chatgpting it or using another AI. I usually google and chatgpt looking for media then if i can't find it after i trying, i engage with media on my phone related to works that were similar in the hopes that the algorithm eventually delivers on what i was looking for.
>>25052520Don't you have to pay for chatgtp? I haven't tried that yet.
>>25052235Not knowing what myrrh is just strikes me as crazy. I guess there are some people without basic knowledge of Christianity on this website.
Is the world ready for Sanderson to become as famous as Game of Thrones? Because I am not. I have never read a Sanderson book and never will, but I don't want to hear about this guy forever due to screen adaptions.
>>25050925Citing Orbit makes me trust you more, but I feel like I am going to get jipped unironically if I buy it.
>>25052550i'm scared too. But we already live in retard sub 80 iq slopworld so how much farther down the drain can it really go?
>>25052550GoT became popular because of sex and violence and "plot twists." Sanderson is bland writing and anime in a fantasy setting.
>>25052550The only Sanderson I've read is WoT and the Amazon preview of The Way of Kings. I don't want to imagine the kinds of people who read and enjoy that shit.
>>25052051It sounds too good to be true. I'm afraid it won't live up to expectations.
>>25052150Only hope is someone in the estate having a fit of common sense.
>>25052573>Sanderson is bland writing and anime in a fantasy setting.I've never read a Sanderson book but you are selling it to me.
>>25052550Maybe give it another 5 or 10 years and people will start making screen adaptations to it because there is nothing left to squeeze. Right now the Boomers are on a nostalgia suicide run and they'll crash every IP into the ground and clear the mediascape for new growth like Sanderson film adaptations.
>>25052573>bland writing and anime in a fantasy settingGiven how popular anime has become today he’d do just fine
>>25051886>Unfortunately the prose is really bad. At times, abysmalsci fi in a nutshell (with the occasional rare exception)
>>25052682It would probably do well as one of those notAnime's like Castlevania, Devil May Cry, and LOTR. Only if it's not written by those people though.
>>25052006I haven't had this problem with any other book so I have to say the writer.
>>25051750eh. kinda. i wouldn't say so tho. there's some overarching themes related to the balance and constraint of power... language plays something of a significant role metaphysically; to know something's 'true' name is to have power over it. the philosophy is there as subtle backdrop, but not a major theme per se. the books are more psychological / existential than they are philosophical. the fourth is a straight up feminist character study of a previous book's femtagonist. but don't let that put you off as Le Guin doesn't do it in a woke or liberated way; i think you could even characterise her as a mild DL reactionary. (she also writes the sensitive young man archetype with a sympathy and sensitivity you don't often get even from male authors.) it's actually quite an extraordinary novel and properly my favourite out of the series. overall they're very beautifully written and a joy to read, regardless of their philosophical content.
>>25052819thank you for the indepth response atleast
>>25051750If you can get past the overarching "white people bad" message that permeates the whole thing you'll be fine.
>>25052833lol what
>>25052804Huh, maybe I should take it off the list... Hmm...
>>25052833It's kinda crazy that you can get away with that kind of racism.
>>25051929>allow him so much control over all future projects that they collaborate onGRRM in shambles.
Maybe if the project is successful, they’ll greenlight more fantasy projects in the futureone can only hope
>>25052871>Prince of Nothing Adaptation: Black Cum edition
>>25052871Isn't there a new fantasy show coming out in the summer of 2026?
>>25052833race relations aren't even a theme in earthsea. le guin was at worst being a cynical contrarian by making most of the archipelago coloured. it's simply ethnogeographic distribution. HBD if you will. i pictured Ged and his ilk - other than the blacks in the east reach - as white anyway and it doesn't change anything.
Now that I think about it Malazan had already hit what people today would call a woke quota back then>lots of black and brown characters in important roles>very few white representation and later on you even get pale justice-obsessed factions that want to wipe out the world>too many female soldiers>strong themes about humanity destroying the environment and shit like that
>Brandon has creative controlLet's see what happens when they race swap characters
>>25052469It's definitely not the one you're thinking of, but there's a part of Cugel the Clever close to the beginning nearly exactly similar to how you've described the masked society.
>>25052871I think it will be successful. Mistborn and Stormlight are good entry fantasy and I think Stormlight has the potential to capture the game of thrones audience if done well. The problem is that Apple TV is fucking awful at marketing their shows and no one knows it exists half the time. But with this and the Devils being made into a film, it might be a resurgence of fantasy kino.
>>25052930Both Mistborn and Stormlight have plenty of non white characters, especially Stomlight where everyone is Asian. I can't see any raceswapping.>>25052953>sanderson and abercombie getting adaptionsred rising next
>>25052550Brandosando's work is too tame and immature to transcend the zeitgeist. Look what happened to the Wheel of Time adaptation. It'll get lost among better TV.
>>25052953WoT is classic entry level fantasy and look how that show ended up
>>25052997WOT was adapted badly with changes and by a company that was rushing to capture something in the post GoT media world. Sanderson will have so much control of these adaptions that it should be as close to a 1:1 adaptation as possible and, if not, the changes should make sense considering he is in charge of it all.
>“It was going to be very bad this time.” Another one: “She felt a feeling of dread.” There’s a penchant for redundant description: A city is “tranquil, quiet, peaceful.” Many things, from buildings to beasts, are “enormous.” Dark places, more thesaurically, are “caliginous.” On almost every page of Mistborn, his first and probably most beloved series, a character “sighs,” “frowns,” “raises an eyebrow,” “cocks a head,” “shrugs,” or “snorts,” sometimes at the same time, sometimes multiple times a page. How would you respond, in defense of Sanderson? This comes from an article in Wired that earned the author Jason Kehe threats and infuriated the Sanderson fanbase.
>>25052699Neuromancer's is bad even by sci-fi standards.
>>25052735Just cut out the middleman and make it legit anime.
>>25053037*rad, you mean.>Smith was also a fence, but in balmier seasons he surfaced as an art dealer. He was the first person the Finn had known who’d "gone silicon"— the phrase had an old-fashioned ring for Case — and the microsofts he purchased were art history programs and tables of gallery sales. With half a dozen chips in his new socket, Smith’s knowledge of the art business was formidable, at least by the standards of his colleagues. But Smith had come to the Finn with a request for help, a fraternal request, one businessman to another. He wanted a go-to on the Tessier-Ashpool clan, he said, and it had to be executed in a way that would guarantee the impossibility of the subject ever tracing the inquiry to its source. It might be possible, the Finn had opined, but an explanation was deinitely required. "It smelled," the Finn said to Case, "smelled of money. And Smith was being very careful. Almost too careful." Smith, it developed, had had a supplier known as Jimmy. Jimmy was a burglar and other things as well, and just back from a year in high orbit, having carried certain things back down the gravity well. The most unusual thing Jimmy had managed to score on his swing through the archipelago was a head, an intricately worked bust, cloisonné over platinum, studded with seed pearls and lapis. Smith, sighing, had put down his pocket microscope and advised Jimmy to melt the thing down. It was contemporary, not an antique, and had no value to the collector. Jimmy laughed. The thing was a computer terminal, he said. It could talk. And not in a synth-voice, but with a beautiful arrangement of gears and miniature organ pipes. It was a baroque thing for anyone to have constructed, a perverse thing, because synth-voice chips cost next to nothing. It was a curiosity. Smith jacked the head into his computer and listened as the melodious, inhuman voice piped the igures of last year’s tax return. Smith’ s clientele included a Tokyo billionaire whose passion for clockwork automata approached fetishism. Smith shrugged, showing Jimmy his upturned palms in a gesture old as pawn shops. He could try, he said, but he doubted he could get much for it.>When Jimmy had gone, leaving the head, Smith went over it carefully, discovering certain hallmarks. Eventually he’d been able to trace it to an unlikely collaboration between two Zurich artisans, an enamel specialist in Paris, a Dutch jeweler, and a California chip designer. It had been commissioned, he discovered, by Tessier-Ashpool S.A.It's just a big beautiful future noir.
>>25053033I don't think that even the unironic Sanderson readers here are going to argue in favour of his literary skill. What he does is write vast swathes of connected functional YA fantasy, which is what his readers are looking for.
What sci-fi or fantasy book has the best romance?
>>25053097The only thing I hear people gush about is that his magic system is really fleshed out and follows logical rules, which never really makes sense to me cause... It's magic... It doesn't really need to be explained.
>>25053108Song of Achilles
>>25053114You'll notice that many Sanderson readers are big fans of videogames, and this kind of explicative approach to magic appeals to people who grew up with them because it's familiar. It's the same story with web-novels. I don't think it's a coincidence that the meteoric rise of videogames as a huge part of young people's development has preceded this fashion in popular fiction.
>>25053116Shut up, fag.
>>25052956>There will be no race swappingOh you poor poor deluded fool you.
>>25053118In this case it was more the TTRPG crowd.
>>25053118I blame it on how incestuous fiction has become. Writers used to be inspired by their experiences growing up, such as Tolkien with WW1 or Robert E. Howard with the Great Depression. Nowadays authors are inspired exclusively by their favorite books, movies, anime, and videogames. There's no real personal connection between the author and their story, it's all just cliches and subversions. Sanderson and Erikson are good examples of this.
>>25052956>I can't see any raceswapping.Dune had tons of non-white characters and they still cast that she-boon as Chani.
>>25053130Can you elaborate on the Erikson case or is this just contrarianism?
>>25053132To be fair the Fremen are supposed to be literal Space Arabs with a slight admix of European. All the houses are supposed to be European and blonde and just very pale and outlandish looking from the Fremen.
>>25053142The actress who plays Chani isn't Arabic, she's black. I'd have no problem if they cast an Arab as Chani.
>>25053152I'm talking about the books, I could care less for Zendaya, she is literally probably the last celebrity to exist and everyone has stopped talking about her 2 years ago.
>>25053141Malazan was literally a D&D campaign that he decided to start writing about, and the D&D elements are very obvious even with the names changed. Tiste are elves, Eleint are dragons, etc.
>>25053160The only things he really takes from his gaming sessions are character and location names. Past GotM the plot is barely based on those sessions anymore.The whole elf and dragon argument is stupid anyway. Tolkien didn’t invent either of them, so why can’t Erikson use those races? Most authors both modern and older have done the same, including Tolkien himself. So why does it suddenly matter when Erikson does it? And Erikson’s version of elves is barely elf-like to begin with assuming you’ve actually read his books.I feel like the whole mythical gaming session thing is usually overblown by people who don’t like his series. Whenever a character or plotline doesn’t play out according to their headcanon they just blame it on the gaming sessions
>>25053204At least delete your first post
>>25052915Malazan is more anime than woke, at least from what I read. Not worth reading regardless.
>>25052956>Both Mistborn and Stormlight have plenty of non white characters, especially Stomlight where everyone is Asian. I can't see any raceswapping.HAHAAHAHAHA. People said the same thing about the Wheel of Time adaptation. It would be some very delicious irony if they did shit all over his books though, considering how thoroughly he glazed the terrible, terrible WoT show, even as Robert Jordan's widow disavowed it.
>>25053160You keep repeating this lie constantly
>>25053130You do not want modern authors tobwrite based on "experiences".
>>25053160Erikson is a trained anthropologist who was inspired by his time studying abroad. He also never played Dungeons and Dragons, he played a table top roleplaying game with an original setting he and his friends created together, which eventually formed the bedrock on which he built the world of Malazan. The books are not, as I see repeated here often, simply "adaptations" of his campaigns. The singular campaign he ran was the origination for the setting.
Should magical academies be nanny states where the government/owner tries to round the edges off and yeet anyone who is retarded into expulsion, or should they be crazy extensions of how chaotic magic is, with shit that makes Hogwarts look like pussy shit?
>>25053204>>25053230>>25053243There is a very extensive page on the Malazan wiki going over the D&D origins of Malazan. Anomander Rake was literally Erikson's Dark Elf OC.>He also never played Dungeons and DragonsWrong."They started with Dungeons & Dragons, but soon found the game system "too mechanical and on occasion nonsensical" so they moved on to GURPS (the Generic Universal Roleplaying System), which offered the spontaneous narrative flexibility they were looking for." https://malazan.fandom.com/wiki/Role-playing_Game_Origins_of_the_Malazan_Series
>>25053262Magic should be something learned at night in the woods from a demon you sacrificed a virgin to, not a gay subject at school
>>25053276What about a Lesbian Subject at School?
>>25053265I didn’t deny that his Tiste races are influenced by D&D though. It’s just that Tolkien drew inspiration from mythology (which is a nerd thing), while Erikson drew inspiration from D&D elves, and honestly they’re barely alike at all, aside from the fact that there are black ones and white ones. The point is how you bring these races to life rather than whether you’re just copypasting existing ideas, and both authors avoided that pitfall well. I don’t really feel like we need to draw the line here
>>25052211Because she realizes that the Consult is real and the dude she just fucked was a pure evil demon in human clothing
>>25051336DublinersHero of AgesRed Rising
>>25053286>copypasting existing ideasThat's exactly what Erikson did though. He doesn't have an original bone in his body.
>>25053120He is right though
>>25053313I asked for romance. Tearing your rectum isn't romantic, it's a mental illness.
25053311bait used to be more subtlei am not going to (you) you
>>25053316Name a single original idea or character in any of the Malazan books. It's literally just D&D with the names changed.
>>25053320Zombie dinosaurs with machete arms
>>25053326Not gonna lie, that sounds ridiculous.
>>25053337Y-you don't understand! He was an anthropology major! The series is very deep, you just have to get past the first book, which isn't very good...
>>25053337It is
>>25053343I think Gardens is actually pretty good. It's not the worst Malazan book.
>>25053337Malazan has worse world building than Deltora Quest of all things.
>>25053347I really wanted to read it too...
>>25053346There are worse Malazan books?!
>>25053346After reading the series I can appreciate now how much Gardens was setting the series up. A lot of it makes sense in retrospect
>>25053352Yeah
>>25053347You shittalking Deltora Kino?
>>25053276>>25053283A lesbian subject in school taught by demons.
>>25053377Would daemons want lesbians waving wands around or would they think it was the purview of those with wands already?
>>25053374Nah Vraal are based, it's just embarrassing that a "serious" work of Fantasy, written by an anthropologist, has worse world building than a book series written for not even young adults but elementary schoolers.
>>25053388Children's series require more thought, since you can't expect them to resist shit that's irresponsible the same way an adult should be able to.
>>25052469
This line from David Gemmell's "Hero in the Shadows">"Evil creeps up on a man," said Waylander. "He starts out on a mission he believes is just, and with every killing he darkens his soul just a little more. He lives neither in the day nor in the night. And one day this man of twilight, this... Gray Man... finally steps into the dark. As a young man I tried to live a decent life. Then one day I arrived home to find my family butchered. My wife, Tanya, my son, my two baby girls. I set out to hunt down the nineteen men who had taken part in the raid. It took me almost twenty years to find them all. I killed every one. I made them suffer as Tanya had suffered. They all died in dreadful agony. I look back on the torturer I became, and I barely recognize the man. His heart was stone. He turned his back on almost everything of value. I cannot tell you now why he—I—accepted the contract to kill the king. It no longer matters why. The simple fact is that I did accept, and I did kill him. And in killing him I finally became as evil as the men who murdered my family. I tell you all this not to excuse myself or to ask for forgiveness. Forgiveness is not yours to give. I tell you simply because it may help you in your own life. You fear being weak. I see that fear in you. But you are not weak, Niall. One of the men who slaughtered your parents was in your power, and you upheld the chivalric code. That is strength of a kind I never possessed. Hold to that, Niall. Hold to the light. Keep that code in your heart with every decision you make. And when one day you are faced with a rival or an enemy, make sure you do nothing that would bring you shame.">tfw Waylander is giving this speech knowing he's mortally wounded and only has 12 hours, at most to live>tfw he's giving this speech to the boy who just shot him and ended his life
>>25053439why are self-aware villains so rare?
>>25050940Unironically one of my wife(j)'s favorite series, this and Banana Fish
>>25053583Because self-awareness is the first step to enlightenment. In most cases, the enlightened surrender their attempts to control others.
Any other desert sci-fi other than Dune? I love the idea of technological progress meeting nomadic cultures
I just finished the first trilogy of Powdermage and it was surprisingly good. Also now that I've finished it its rare that I read a book where I didnt particularly dislike any characters. I expected to hate Vlora from the opening but I actually felt kind of bad for her by the end. She needed more characterization since she was pretty much just a side character despite her relationship to the main characters. Apparently shes in the second trilogy though so looking forward to that.
>>25052120>>Kelsier mansplains the magic system to Vindoesnt he kind of need to explain it in detail though? its not like Vin can go on wikipedia and look up the magic system
>>25053625Star Wars.
>>25053627Yeah I thought the same and it was enjoyable. The sequels are just as good and the second trilogy is even better
>>25052655hes not wrong. I always liked to describe Stormlight Archive as "what if a white guy wrote Bleach". They have magic swords and have to say oaths to transform and then they even get bankais at some point. And another series (mistborn) is just HxH nen system. The problem is that Stormlight Archive like shonen anime, 90% of it is just filler and padding to get to the good stuff.His last book was 1300 pages and I can tell you very little about what happened in thereBut theres also literally zero sex. There are couples but they never just randomly start banging.I think they might get pregnant from just holding hands in this universe
I read Sanderson for years and then went to try and read Malazan but I think I'm unironically too dumb to read this prose.
>>25053656Malazans difficulty is context not the writing. You have to push through because it drops you in without giving you any idea on who the characters are, the state of the world, politics, races, magic etc. It does eventually make sense as you familiarise yourself with it. There are reader companion guides that explain some things that happen chapter by chapter to give a bit more context. Also if you use an e-reader, look up “fictionary” you can download a malazan dictionary to explain things and you can install them book by book to avoid spoilers.
>>25053636Ehh to a degree sure, but theres too many to choose from. I'd like either a standalone or trilogy
>>25053640>But theres also literally zero sexI feel like I remember Shallan and Adolin have sex and it's commented on by her voyeuristic spren. Also you don't need constant sex scenes for media. A classic fade to black is good enough
>>25053668was trying to say it as a positive. Sometimes I read some fantasy stuff where sex scenes go on wayyy too long and its like I dont need this, the worlds about to end, fade to black if you need to bang, but dont describe your cock in her mouth.
>>25053673>but dont describe your cock in her mouth.Never read picrel then. It's chapters of that, cumming on people, in people and so on.
>>25053661>without giving you any idea on who the characters are, the state of the world, politics, races, magic etcright, I felt like that was my issue. I felt like I was being dropped in the middle and not at the start. It wasnt the prose necessarily but the fact that everything they said went over my head because just too much stuff going on at once.But I guess I'll give it another try because I did like the overall premise. I'll check out that fictionary thing because I dont want this to be a situation where something important related to a plot thread finally happens but I forgor who x was
>>25051929Oh, cool! I can't wait to see which producer will be! With Sanderson there, he'll make sure this adaptation will be faithful, right!?!?>Apple TVInto the trash it goes....
>>25053688These resources do help and by the time you get to the third book, I found that I was able to understand what was happening so I didn't need to rely on the guides any more. https://www.thefictionary.net/authors/fantasy/steven-erikson-and-ian-esslemont-midkemiahttps://www.reddit.com/r/Malazan/comments/1f4e4hy/malazan_guides_and_pdfs/
>>25053692the worst thing they could possibly do is make Shallan black despite one of her distinct traits being white-ish
>>25053345that is quite dumb
>>25053337They're cool. Guild Wars has something similar.However in GW, they're just a beast; not a sapient species.
>>25051336>El Buscon (History of the life of the Swindler, called Don Pablos, model for hobos and mirror of the shrewd)Decided to read the original novel after reading pic related (amazing comic btw). Its a really funny book, just have 60 pages left, really good inspiration for roguish characters>David Gemmell The Legend of DeathwalkerRead a good lot of Gemmell book, still have the Waylander trilogy to read and the rest of Drenai book, don't know if the Macedonian & Troy war books are worth it>Jirel of Joiryseems like fun pulp
>>25053439shit that kinda spoiled me, that's on me and it shouldn't take away my enjoyement of the novels. Gemmell has a knack for writing stories about redemption, violence and doing the right thing. a bit repetitive sometimes, but shit it works on me everytime.
>>25053792Nothing wrong with an author who can only tell one story if it's a damn good story, as I like to say.
What are the best "first contact" sci-fi books? Something like Childhood's End or Blindsight.
>>25053779>Jirel of JoiryBe warned that the main character is a strong independent woman!
>>25053814Please do not insult Blindsight by comparing it to shit like Childhood's End.
>>25053814More in Gods eye and Project Hail Mary
>>25053814Alan Dean Foster can be a bit of a retard sometimes but I liked Nor Crystal Tears.
You think creators sometimes fall for the meme of their own series over time?
>>25053819ME AM BIZARROME AM WORST SUPERHERO
>>25053831Blindsight was a much better book than "trust us even though we look like your version of demons ex dee" written by a literal pedophile.
>>25053828Sometimes? The Krang Tar-Aym was unreadable.
>>25053838Watts is banned from entering the USA. I wonder why?>paedo accuses others of paedophiliakek
Is Dean Koontz any good? I read Innocence a long time ago as my first book of his, and I remember fucking hating it.
>>25053847>no uEvery single other author is not a pedophile just because you worship Clarke, a known pedophile who moved to Sri Lanka to fuck underage twinks. Go worship pedophiles elsewhere, faggot.
>>25053850If you're into Catholic propaganda, yes.
>>25053828>Alan Dean FosterFunnily, The Dammed trilogy and Spell Singer series might be the first non-YA sci-fi and Fantasy series I got into as a kid.
>>25053857I will now read his books.
>>25053838>You're fucking lying, Clarke was not a pedophile>Look it up>He's literally a pedophileMan what the fuck. I love 2001.
>>25053656GoTM is a pain to read but you HAVE to get through it to understand the series and what's about. The second book is so different in prose that you must think that it was wrote by another author. I'm still at Memories of Ice but the second book convinced me that this one of the best fantasy series of the past 20+ years.
>>25050940Kindly fuck yourself ser, I just marathoned this garbagepure generic infantile dreck lol
>>25053865Yeah. It's not even a secret. I wasn't trying to "own" that guy. Clarke is literally a pedophile lol just like his Big Three compatriot Asimov.
https://mangafire.to/read/to-terraa.ojv9z/en/chapter-1what a joke
>>25053865>>25053856>author is automatically good because a superior author likes them young>>25053872>EVERYONE I DON'T LIKE IS A PEDOPHILE
>>25053876Your favorite author is a pedophile and you're a bad faith acting newfag who posts nothing of substance.
>>25053860Enjoy! Try also to read his SF and his 1970s thrillers.
>>25053880>Your favorite author is a pedophileAnd so is Trump, but you love him.
>>25053838But how does that make the book bad, though?
>>25053868Coltaine… my nigga
I'm reading about the Knights of Labor. Are there any fantasy labor unions in fiction?
>>25053883uh oh newfagGPT acting up
>>25053880>Your favorite author is a pedophileLewis Caroll created one of the most iconic girls in the world and inspired one of my favorite games
>>25053896He's is easy to spot he doesn't know how to hide his prose yet. I could tell that me throwing the Nazi comment back in his face hurt when he referenced the "own" in quotations then used the same strategy back on you. It's very pathetic but also very funny.
>>25053668Is this a Stormlight character? That shit looks great.
>>25053903That's cool. You're not shitting up the thread about Lewis Caroll.
>>25053910If he sticks around enough maybe he'll become human again.
>>25053896>>25053910>>25053917
>>25053911Yeah. One of the spren which are like spirits of the world
>>25053910Newfags are always easy to spot because they make up unrelated off-topic strawmen and spam as many 2016+ buzzwords as they possibly can. Bringing up Trump out of nowhere lol I'd laugh in this guy's face if I ever had the chance.
>>25053661>>25053656>>25053868I'm also going through GoTM, though the thing pulling me back is that I don't particularly care about the characters. Granted, I'm only partway through chapter 5 and just into Book 2, but it's kinda hard for me to keep reading when I'm barely invested.
>>25053919>everyone I don't like is the same personredditors have tried it before and as always its the most pathetic attempt to save your ego of criticism, which in turn is pathetic because this is an anonymous image board.>>25053925He's a redditor, it's all he knows.
>>25053895In Powdermage which I just finished reading >>25053627 one of the characters founded a major labor union coincidentally called the Noble Warriors of Labor. However in Powdermage in the opening act they kill the monarchy and noble class (with the rest of the book being the fallout and repercussions). That opens the way for unions, while before the king wouldnt let them make a major one.Hes the head of the labor union but each guild has their own leader (blacksmiths, textiles, banking for some reason etc). The books dont really dive into the socioeconomics of unions though. Its pretty much just "without a really bad taxation and proper organization we're actually really efficient now". Too busy fighting wars and stuff, killing gods.
>>25053640The Mistborn power system is way more limited than Nen is.>>25052655Honestly, Sanderson puts more effort into his world-building than most manga writers. On the surface, his worlds are more mundane than a lot of manga worlds, with fewer cool and weird things going on, but he puts more focus on the ramifications of these odd traits of his settings, while manga writers have a more fire-and-forget way of doing things.
>>25053967Mangakas (manga writers) purposefully leave blanks to prevent writing themselves in the corner or risk making the world too boring or predictable for the reader, but as with a lot of fiction in Japan, its rule of cool over logic or consistency so they will throw out plot threads only to forget about them and drop them later.
We are a race of lovers
>>25053868>>25053891>dat feel when Malazan Empire completely misunderstands his sacrifice and paints him as a rebellious antagonist
>>25053976manga can also get killed by the publisher giving you a chapter or two to wrap it all up
>>25053656>>25053868GotM notoriously reads like a fourth or fifth novel in the series that expects you to know a lot when it is actually just settings things up.
>>25053439>Evil creeps up on a ma-*shoots him again* stfu
>>25053925>>25053934Hey pajeet, answer the question: >>25053885
>>25053439I often hold that sympathy for one's enemies is the most difficult of heroic traits; nearly all of our instincts push us to demonize our opposition as much as we can. It's easy to do so, and it makes fighting them easier.
>>25054024Sometimes even capes get that right
>>25054022I liked your book btw.
>>25053976>>25054000>tfw mangaka writes a perfect arc but has to keep writing because the publishers dont let him end it>undoes all the plot and character progression
>>25053934Now it is typing random ethnicities in its posts LOL all newfags do is double-down on their behavior.
>>25054024Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you
I think in media res is the best way to start for any setting that requires a lot of info.
>>25053692Sanderson has nearly complete creative control. JK Rowling tier.
>Mistborn adaptation announced Bakkerbros??? Your response?
>>25054137He's an autistic mormom, him having complete control will ruin the project.
You should read the Silo series.Comfy post apocalyptic and concise series. 3 books, no bullshit.
>>25054137>Sanderson has nearly complete creative control. JK Rowling tier.In an previous interview, Sanderson admitted that, when working for TV, you need to do compromises, like GRRM did with Game of Thrones, since time is limited and what works in a book does not always work in TV.He made some examples: cut "superfluous" story-lines, cut non-necessary characters, or merge two characters into a new one to speed things up.So, no. I don't trust that he'll make a faithful adaptation.Also, since this in made by Apple TV, there won't even be the quality HBO was capable of producing, destroying any hope I have in this project.
>>25054211 >Also, since this in made by Apple TV, there won't even be the quality HBO was capable of producing, destroying any hope I have in this project.Have you ever watched an Apple TV show? Their production quality is HBO level. Apple is the only streaming service I have faith in these days because their stuff has been consistently quality I find.
Apple is indeed lesser bad compared to others. They did fuck up Foundation with typical woke shit tho
>>25054242Man, biggest failing of the Foundation adaptation is it could've been a 10/10. It's explicitly creative meddling that fucked it up.
>>25054255I haven’t read the books but I’ve heard that changes it did bring in were mostly positive - aka the genetic dynasty.
>>25054252Invasion is absolute garbage
My wishlist:Malazan by TubiThe Prince of Nothing by DailyWire+Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Disney+Elric of Melnibone by Crunchyroll
>>25054279>The Prince of Nothing by DailyWire+You retarded?
>>25051944i'm retarded for your hot ass, faggot
>>25053439I love Gemmell so much bros... If none of you have read the Jerusalem man trilogy do that. The 3rd book especially has a ton of these types of quotes sprinkled throughout.
DAE dislike long series'? I can't do more than 4. Trilogies are a bit much and one is often less good than the other two. I prefer 1 standalone or a duology at most. May be it's because i'm getting older, but it also feels like a waste of time for some reason.
>>25054411I enjoy them but I get burned out quickly. Malazan is a good example of this in that they’re both extremely long and there are loads of them. Best thing to do is read one or two, take a break with a short book, and then jump back in and repeat.
>>25054411Me too anon, this also includes comics (non capeshit) & manga in general too. I was gifted the first two Wheel of time book, but when I saw that it has 14 books (which the french version fucking spread among almost 30 books for the pocket version), I'm not feeling it much, but I still have to read the volume I got to see if I like it.Three is the sweet spot, and I'd say that 6 would be my maximum now
>>25054411>like a waste of time for some reasonit is. they are milked to the max with a bunch of wasted words. Standalone are the way to go. Those in the past knew that less is more. Some novellas from the 70s have more to say than 10 book series today. Sad! Embrace the standalone.
http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/258/the-vaults-of-yoh-vombis-%28adaption-by-richard-corben%29
>>25053625Sun Eater has this in spades but as a means for civilizational control>>25054255>>25054211Keep your expectations low and you'll never be disappointed, anons
>>25054435what deep about the deep?
>>25054532wot if like people represented chess/checkers/playing cards and the flat world a board game, and were in a perpetual/cyclical war with one another, and it was all carefully orchestrated by some lovecraftian alien/ai game master.
>>25054571anon that's just real life
>>25054575exactly. that's why it's so deep!Layers
>>25053625A Fire Upon the Deep (no focus on deserts though)
Just finished pic related. It was alright, better than Salvation but inferior to Night's Dawn/Commonwealth/Fallen Dragon. The technology level is weird. It feels like Hamilton has toned it down to feel less like space-magic than in his other books. There is a plot point about humanity failing to use technology to become a post-scarcity society because MUH CAPITALISM but it's kind of forced.
what did he mean by this?
>>25054414I could probably do that over the course of a decade or more.>>25054421>>25054435I also can't do really thick books.
>>25054828he means he's a man of taste
This was a mess but I kinda enjoyed it. Are the sequels worth reading?
>>25054858boyish thighs? tf wrong wit u nigga
>>25054828The author could be alluding to 2 or 3 things:>The character is a gay pedo>The character is attracted to her (Esmenet?) because she have tight, toned, and thin thighs not normally becoming of a woman (girl?) of her age.>The character is attracted to her because her thighs are look like a boy's thighs and he is a repressed gay that took an interest in her because of her boyish thighs. Which might allude to the point that he has been looking at boys' thighs on his free time or has some sort of sinister experience with them.I don't know the full context but I think the author is trying to get across that her thighs aren't shapely like a normal woman's thighs due to her age or weight.
>>25053814Anathem is worth a read.
>>25054828She doesn't have thick thighs, this is going back to a really old trope that thin women could pass off as boys due their height and their thinness. Maybe America is full of fat woman now, the data last time I checked said the majority of women are overweight, but when I was a kid in the 90s you had tomboys running around that sometimes would look as androgynous as I did as a kid and a lot of people would assume that some of my tomboy friends were also boys cause we were doing shithead things like playing in the mud and such.
>>25054923>but I think the author is trying to get across that her thighs aren't shapely like a normal woman's thighs due to her age or weight.Im aware of that, I was more jokingly concerned about the implications about Achaiman. The book has been for a while now, hazily directing towards an idea that he is attracted to young men. But it uses "love" so loosely that I could simply be seeing into something that isnt there
>>25050946I still really like the books overall, but yeah. Starting with Oathbringer you start getting more instances of dialogue that sounds very modern, more forced cringey jokes, more moments that just kind of feel marvel inspired for lack of a better word. When Szeth's sword asked for pancakes I had to put the book down for a moment.
>>25054959Iunno dude if you use "love" then describe a girl's thighs as "boylike" I don't think that's vague at all at what they are trying to tell you. Who looks at a woman and thinks of boys? A gay dude, that's who.
>>25055015shieeeeeeet...
4/5 could have done without literal troon sex at the end thoughFirst book I've read entirely on an exercise bike
>>25055050Damn, I gotta read this now
>>25055050>literal troon sex at the end thoughyo based? does the trans character feature prominently?
>>25055062Kind ofBut only at the beginning and end The whole book has a lot of androgyny and troon stuff desuThe civilization the mc is from has sex change as a very common thing, with people switching between either all the timeAnd the aliens featured are tri gendered
>>25055062The Culture features a post-scarcity utopian society which includes sex-change at will (including any other surgical change or feature.)
>>25055066>>25055069Okay so what makes it actually good or well written or deep? Now that I know this. Im not actually shallow enough to read a book cuz trans peepos
>>25055093If I enjoy reading a book = it's good :^)))) If I don't enjoy reading a book or it's objective slop = it's bad >:^((((you're gonna have to take it at that
>>25055093It's all a few incidental paragraphs in the story but of course that anon is exaggerating it because, you know, modern culture (pun intended). In a super advanced technological utopian society people can do anything they want and changing their body in any way is no different to changing your socks. Hell, in the first Culture book someone takes the form of a jellyfish alien. The only Culture novel where the sex change ability is really integral to the plot is probably Excession.
>>25055093>dude <common political rhetoric>The 2010s ruined the concept of sexbending in media :c
>>25055050Finished this two days ago after bouncing off Consider Phlebas and wanting to try another Culture book. Decent read but the aliens were awfully hollow and the 'game' playing was a bit of a snooze.
>>25055151>the aliens were awfully hollowread some xeelee (stephen baxter) or great ship stories (robert reed)
>>25055161Marrow sounds interesting, added to the backlog
>>25055173hey if you read it then please post your thoughts on the story and prose and so on and so forth <
>>25053997I just finished MoI and when Duiker wakes up at the end and starts telling the story I realized most people will probably have no idea what Coltaine actually did until Tavore and the rest report back.
>>25054005It being a movie script reformatted into a book is a better explanation of why it's so hard to read.
>>25054252Dark Matter was one of my favorite TV shows. The time loop episode was the best in any medium. And I had a crush on the blue hair girl.
>>25055312One of the few adaptions where it was better than the book. Though they’re making a sequel which I’m unsure about.
>>25055465I was talking about the Syfy Dark Matter show from 2015. Looks like they mixed up the pic. I never watched the Apple show, which is completely unrelated to the Syfy show.
>>25054512>Keep your expectations low and you'll never be disappointed, anonsDon't worry, I no longer have any kind of expectation from modern adaptations, independently of the medium.
I’m slogging through Royal Assassin. A lot of things are happening yet it feels like nothing is really happening. Maybe I’m just not a big fan of court intrigue. I did like the parts where Fitz is on the ship fighting pirates though
>trusting a novelist to be in charge of an adaptation of their work to a non-written mediumHm, yes, I will call this carpenter to do my masonry work...
>>25055465> One of the few adaptions where it was better than the book.I always found the praise the book got strange. It wasn't original or well written. Sure the TV show was better but it still wasn't that good.
>>25055586>Westworlds in your path
Hit the jackpot at the thrift store yesterday: picked up three Warhammer 40K novels, a Ravenloft novel, and Interview with a vampire.>>25053114I'll give a modest defense of this: if your magic system follows rules, it can help you avoid using magic as a "get out of jail free" card for your characters, and you can instead write situations where the constraints of the magic system force the characters to get creative. It all depends on the execution.>>25053130In retrospect I think Sanderson was the canary in the coal mine for this. Most relatively older fantasy/sci-fi authors had some relevant life experience or were extremely interested in some real-life pursuit, like Ornithology or something. I don't know that Sanderson has any interests or influences outside of fantasy novels, comic books, video games, and TTRPGs.
>>25055686Do share your impressions when you read Interview with the Vampire, I like to see people go into the Anne Rice goonerverse completely blind
>>25053911It's a good fanart but I fear it might give you the wrong impression on the character. It's not a mysterious eldricht being, it's basically an autistic math fairy (to be fair, it is generally considered to be a fairly decent character)
>>25053921Both the Pattern image and this one are the real forms of the spren in their home dimension. On the surface world Pattern is as its name says, a living random pattern that flows across things (pretty different from the MC's pet Gardevoir...)
New thread>>25055974
>>25055465>Though they’re making a sequel which I’m unsure about.It'll be shit.