Epstein (drive) Edition>Old:>>25085570>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
>last book you’ve read>current read>next book you plan to read>The Blade Itself>Before They Are Hanged >The final first law book
havent read in a day
>>25091834 #From The Warrior Prophet:>“You,” a young Galeoth man at his side said. Where had he come from? His eyes flashed in wonder, but something about the broken light made his face lurid. His lips looked wanton and feminine, the black hollow of his mouth promising. “You travelled with him. You’re his first disciple! His first!”
Thoughts on KJ Parker?
>>25093698Nobody else writes like he does. You either like his style or you don't but everyone should try at least one of his series.
>>25093632>blindsight>solaris>malazan book 8
>>25093632>On Blue's Waters>The Wake by Paul KingsnorthTechnically historical fiction, not SF, but it does describe as "a post-apocalyptic novel set a thousand years ago">In Green's Jungles
>>25093632>Darkness Weaves>In the Death Angel's shadow>either Bloodstone or finally getting around to Blood MeridianThank you to the anon who recommended Kane btw. Absolutely loving it so far
>>25093725He wrote a licensed Conan novel called The Road of Kings that's pretty good too. The prose isn't as good as the Howard books, but it manages to tell an interesting story that fits the themes of the original works.
Books for this feel?
>>25093760try asking in the thread for brown people >>25092906
>>25093760Unironically read Creatures of Light and Darkness, by Zelazny. Two characters get into a brawl and accidentally kill half the population of the planet through collateral damage.
I finished White-Luck Warrior.Overall it was pretty good, I think I liked it more than The Judging Eye. However Prince of Nothing trilogy is still better so far.My favorite new characters is Cleric and of course Sarl, eh lads? eh?I was really disappointed that Sorweel went full turbocuck, that scene was a bit too much.I like Achamian a lot in this second series though.
>>25093632>last bookShadowmarch by Tad Williams>current readShadowplay by Tad Williams >next bookShadowrise by Tad Williams (was this one predictable?)
Is Dark Fantasy just normal Fantasy but with rape and swearing? Both seem to involve superhuman heroes murdering even more superhuman magic monsters in the name of personal glory and slash or revenge.
>>25093834If you would consult the chart, please
>>25093834It used to be Fantasy with a strong gothic horror influence..Then GRRM fucked everything up.
>>25093834I think you mean grimdark. I’m not even sure what we call dark fantasy anymore. Aren’t most fantasy books that involve wars technically dark? Even the lighter war focused books include women and children being killed.Take the Farseer Trilogy for example, it’s considered one of the lighter series and yet there’s a baby who gets brutally killed by mindless zombie people in book 2?
>>25093834It's something that generally has elements from the horror/gothic genre such as vampires but like all definitions of fantasy it's nebulous. Grimdark is a subgenre maybe that is more about the rape, swearing violence and more of a themes of cynicism and nihilism but dark fantasy does not mean it has to be dark, scary or brutal. Adams Family or Death from Discworld could be considered dark fantasy but with more light hearted elements.
>>25093840Still waiting for someone to write the definitive mech fantasy btw
>>25093734I've never read a Conan book
>>25093845>I’m not even sure what we call dark fantasy anymoreNeither am I. Couldn't find a decent dark fantasy story for the life of me. It's all just normal fantasy but with rape and swearing.I couldn't care less for ASoIaF because it's incomplete.
>>25093869Then look east. The Japs have dozens of them.
>>25093975Not looking for anime or manga or illustrated children's books (i.e. Light Novels) or video games (Visual Novels included)
>>25094001You are literally seeking stories about big robots fighting. It's a childish story premise.
>>25094001Mecha is an inherently visual genre. If there's no illustrations then what's the point?
>>25094080Children will never appreciate giant robots fighting on the level that I do. Unless they grow up to be smart like me.
>>25093782I found the last two books to be the better part of the second series. I've read the first series and the last two books of the second, but always found the first two to be too much of a slog.The final book is sort of a rushed mess, but it has so much cool stuff going on that I don't really mind. You get to see Our Mostly Holy Aspect Emperor and Warrior Prophet a lot more.
>>25094093Manchild.
>>25094107Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
Is it just me, or do sci-fi and fantasy writers have a real problem with writing heros as hyper analytic autism bots, and never having people with real wisdom. I am not saying the former cannot be good characters, but it's sort of a trope now. Even loose sci-fi like Red Rising has hyper analysts as all the "smart" characters. And the super computer autist kid is definitely a trope.Whereas, I am having a hard time coming up with a genuinely wise figure like Gandalf I can recall from recent fantasy or sci-fi, or someone like Dante's Virgil or Beatrice.To my mind, it's a bit of lack of imagination. Why would things like omni competent AIs and aliens be limited by discursive analysis instead of being Laozi or Saint Maximos tier sages? Is it just that the latter is harder to write?I can see why it would be harder to write first person, but third person doesn't seem undoable.
>>25094112Gene Wolfe's "analytical man" and its consequences have been a disaster to genre fiction
>>25094112Writing smart characters is hard because smart people in real life often make logical/intuitive leaps that, if written in a story, just come across as a total asspull. You simply can't write a realistic smart characters because having your character solve the plot because an apple fell on their head seems retarded.
Mistborn: Secret History is Brandon's best book.
>>25094114Have they, though? As much as Wolfe is beloved I don't think he was that influential. Mainly because no one else in genre literature seems to be on his level.
>>25094171I should probably elaborate on that. I've only read this, the emperor's soul, mistborn era 1, and about 400 pages of TWoK. I actually took a break after part 1 of WoK to start secret history and it was like seeing the iceberg but in fewer words.It's crazy how Sanderson can say (or progress) so little in so many pages. Some sections feel excessively long, and when he writes novellas he's actually forced to be concise and it results in stories that maintain the same quality throughout rather than just spiking at the end at the climax, or the "sanderlanche." I think the setting is more interesting than its individual stories. I'll probably finish Way of Kings, but I'm gonna take a break and read someone else after despite getting the first 3 SA books for Christmas.
>>25093869Escaflowne
>>25093629>Epstein (drive)Is it powered by fucking children?
>>25094112for red rising, the whole purpose of Golds is that they AREN'T hyper autism bots. They're meant to cultivate leadership qualities that aren't just high IQ solutions
>>25094231Well you know what they say, you can't make an Omelas without raping a few kids
>>25094112It's because modern writers have the same WIS score as the average 4chan CHUD.
>>25094001Mecha is a very visual-oriented genre, you want to look at the cool mech designs. Putting them in a text-only medium would miss most of the appeal.
>>25094112>books written by and for nerds have nerd protagonistsWoah
>>25094252I wish I could read about a gigachad like Tarzan instead.
Why are all power fantasy novels about "cheat" or reincarnation bullshit? Is it just that the author can't imagine themselves just being better than others — there has to be some external factor.
>>25093632>the prefect>Elysium fire>Machine Vendettafinished revelation space, redemption ark, absolution gap and inhibitor phase a few weeks ago, chasm city was great too, as was diamond dogs, turquoise days.
>>25094252>>25094144Good points, but I think it's more than that. Particularly with hard sci-fi, Watts and Reynolds, or Bakker as well, the authors seem very wired into a particular philosophical tradition.Analytic philosophy of mind is still very hot on computational theories of mind (or Bayesian brains) despite them having all sorts of huge problems (such as pancomputationalism in physics rendering the thesis trivial, or there being no way to explain how something computes so hard it feels or understands). On these views, insight and understanding are reducible to data analysis and consciousness and any noetic component to understanding (i.e., real understanding, not just deducing conclusions from inputs) is spooky woo woo, or extra baggage from natural selection.A lot of writers don't hold to quite so reductive an ideology, but the general empiricist psychology.You also have to keep in mind the general therapeutization of psychology, ethical education, and philosophy itself. Everything is about maximizing the needs of the self. It's means-ends reasoning all the way down. Beauty and goodness, any value, is a sort of mirage or just inchoate impulse rising to the surface. So it's all suspect.And people of a very different orientation still embrace this stuff because it supports voluntarism. If everything that actually matters spawns in our head, then *we* decide all meaning and value, and we're something like little copies of Ockham's God of sheer will, just a bit more constrained in the input side of the equation.So, I think it just maps a more general thing in the culture. Aesthetic and values anti-realism seem very popular with the younger generations, either because they believe them or because liberalism has taught them that such things are "private" and so ultimately irrelevant outside of something like "taste."Wisdom is subtractive and intuitive. It’s the ability to see what matters amidst the noise of the world. Analysis is additive. You describe the inputs and then the conclusion. The latter is way easier to write. It's particularly easier to write if you're pushing an ideology where all insight and wisdom is a mirage because nothing *really* matters. Gandalf is a counter example because Gandalf *knows* Sauron is evil in a non-liberal way—not because he isn't maximizing utility and respecting autonomy, but because vice is evil, is real ontic privation.So maybe you can blame Ockham for ruining fiction too.
>>25094112Counterpoint, pic related isn't that old.
>>25094144>>25094305systematic analysis is actually the cope that midwits do. if you're much smarter than somebody else all you really feel is that they're really stupid for missing obvious observations. if you're much dumber than someone else their thought process seems like incomprehensible schizobabble full of unjustified leaps and incoherent intuitive deductions. and if you're doing systematic, analytical reasoning your intelligence is completely irrelevant.
>>25094366my iq must be one the fucking floor then because I see a LOT of schizobabble on on this site.
>>25094366Dumb people think smart people are magic, see for example the TV series Sherlock, which is written by morons and thus Sherlock is magically intelligent.
>>25093632>Goshawk Squadron>Lanark>Meditations
>>25093893You don't have to. Read REH's original Conan stories.
>>25094312I'll need more than just counterpoint.
>>25094144It's actually not hard to write a smart character even if you're only average intelligence yourself. An average person can usually arrive at the same conclusions as a smart person, it just takes them much longer and more work to do so. So all you have to do when writing the super smart character is to have them do the same chain of reasoning and thinking, just in a fraction of the time, and perhaps have him intuitively get through some of it without having to ponderously reason out every step. You can also have him recall things from memory instead of having to look them up, which gives the impression he is also erudite as well as brilliant. Though if you go too far with this you get somebody as superlative as Sherlock Holmes, who has superhuman perception, is impossibly well-read and educated on all manner of subjects, and can induct a person's life story from a handful of minor details.
Can we all agree that dunk and egg is woke? Support real fantasy instead
>>25094515>weNot all of us are unemployable fat losers in a baseball cap, sorry.
>>25094515>The Orc city>The Orc Wars>the elvish kingwhy so trite?
Is 4/5, 8/10, 80/100, B, the ideal rating for credibility?
>>25093710What's his style
>>25094586Archetypal fantasy. People go for that stuff.
>>25093834Originally, dark fantasy was horror with fantasy elements. Stories about vampires, mummies, other living dead, curses, demons, and spirits. It's clear cut and I prefer it to "vibes" based definitions that are more visual than literary.
>>25094515No, I like dunk and egg and I don't know what woke even means anymore in 2026.
>>25093834If you want a more granular difference: Kane is dark fantasy, whereas Conan is not.
>>25094366Smart people seem to fall into these traps too. I think it's partly mere ignorance. People think these pictures of psychology, anthropology, metaphysics, etc. must be true because "science says they are true." They get this picture of man from reading scientific texts, or analytic thought that is plugged into the sciences, generally neuroscience, which is one of the last great holdouts of reductionism (way more so than the physical sciences). Even though the assumptions in play are metaphysical and epistemic, and hardly something anyone saw through a microscope or fMRI, it comes through as "scientific." Opposition is thus woo.It helps that your average person gets very little by way of intellectual history. Even your average philosophy grad student gets survey courses that just skip from Aristotle to Descartes, and ignore the East (while reading Plato and Aristotle more as moderns). Then these same students become the adjuncts who get stuck teaching intro to philosophy.In this way, the assumptions of early modernity, that human reason is wholly discursive, that being can be described by univocal formalisms, that the cosmos simply must be homogeneous, nominalism (or a shallow realism heavily influenced by nominalism), all become transparent and so unquestionable. The great irony here is that many hard sci-fi writers are athiests and these assumptions were all originally theological. Why must reality submit to our formalisms? Because God wants us to know and utilize being. Why is the cosmos valueless and purposeless by axiomatic fiat? Because all value is determined by the divine will, and teleology would constrain divine freedom. Why must reason be discursive and linguistic? So that the mystics and monks lose authority when we debate Scripture. Why is asceticism and virtue now irrelevant to reasoning, and everything just depends on proper method? So that the monks and "saints" cannot be called on as evidence against the new theology.None of that stuff is a requirement for rationality or rigor though, it's just historical baggage from the cataclysms of the Reformation.Partly, the issue is that history in American schools (and I would imagine most Western schools) is generally a sort of "Whig history" for liberalism, at times bordering on propaganda. And it tends to conflate the refinement of technological method with a host of unrelated philosophical and political positions.
>>25094639A lot of my favorite films on IMDB are like 7/10
What's a good way to read about Beowulf?
>>25094656He has a very “arch” writing style. His settings tend to be bleak and cynical with lots of black humour, and all of his characters are rarely good or evil, but various shades of grey. Happy endings are optional. But he doesn't write grimdark fantasy, it's more the low fantasy of the mundane and he has an almost autistic interest in the mechanics and logistics of things, whether that's building a crossbow, how to smelt ore, how best to kill someone with a sword, or how to conquer a city. So it should come as no surprise that his Engineer Trilogy has a lot of, well, engineering - both political and of devices.
Those arguing about this should read Ken Liu's "The Truth of Fact, the Truth of Feeling"
>>25094710You're best starting with the Heaney translation, that's the usual and by far the easiest to read recommendation. Tolkien's is more a poem that a word for word literal translation.
>>25094671nta but give me the qrd on where to start on this. looks kino.
>>25093632>The War Hound and the World's Pain>The City in the Autumn Stars>The Dragon in the SwordI'm on a big Moorcock binge right now, but I'll probably take a break after this and read outside the genre for a while.
>>25094734That's Chiang
>>25094515>>>/lit/grrm
I've been looking for military fantasy besides Cook. Every military vet reviewing Malazan says Erikson has no clue how militaries work.
Is the genre "a group of niggas go on a quest to vanquish evil" dead? I'm tired of morally grey and edgy stories. Where are the old good vs evil books?
Is pic related any good?
>>25093629I deeply regret watching the series; my mental image of the characters and my attitude toward each of them has been tarnished.Nobody else I discuss this with recognises how stilted, and clumsy the dialogue was. Especially Holden. I think it's only fawned because 'hard' sci-fi tee vee is utterly starved of content.
>>25094964Holden is a faggot in the books too so it's not THAT different. I've heard the show made him even more insufferable tho.
>>25094833>Every military vet reviewing Malazan says Erikson has no clue how militaries work.Do you have a link to any of that? I'm interested in their criticism. Erikson's take on military life never felt particularly "real" to me, but since I've never been in the military I have no way to gainsay it.
>>25094889There's still a very huge body of literature out there that does that sort of thing. it hasn't gone away. You should probably read through some older novels.
>>25094766>olkien's is more a poem that a word for word literal translation.That's because Beowulf is an epic poem. Translating as prose is missing the point.
>>25094967True.Basically, the guy cant act, he has a tantrum every other scene, and makes retarded decisions constantly. It's agony.
>>25094976I'm not disagreeing, but Tolkien's Beowulf is Tolkien at his most 'Tolkien'. The language is dense and archaic and yes, often beautiful. It's LotR turned up to 11. However it's not something I'd recommend as a first introduction to the text.
>>25094988Fair enough. I suppose it's not a very good text as an introduction to Beowulf.
>>25094970https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/1qvb1mf/comment/o4brb9n/
>>25094515
>>25095026Fuck. I dont believe it. Im not going to take the bait, I didnt mention it initially because im tired of talking about Bakker, but that "knuckle deep in blood and ash line" instantly sounded like something Bakker.I dont believe it though. Its just too convenient.
>>25095026It's "Nonmen" not "Nonman".
>>25095040don't worry, it is actually a fake quote based on the real one from that Douglas guy's bookThe "Inchoroi city" gives it away, but it did kind of hit a Bakker-ish vibe when I first saw it too. "There is nothing more relived than the Inchoroi" especially sounded clunky in the exact way a lot of in-universe quotes from various sagas are
>>25095025Not as in-depth as I was hoping, but from what I gather from his posts, my intuition was actually spot on: Erikson plays fast and loose with military organization, to the extent that it's hard to figure out how the Malazan Army is structured. I've read all 10 books and I couldn't tell you more than a vague outline. I know a bunch of ranks, I know roughly the order they go in, but I couldn't tell you how big a malazan army typically is, how many officers it has, or how many men any particular rank commands, or what his responsibilities usually are. I've never served, but one thing about military life that is abundantly clear to me, as a civilian, is that the chain of command is explicit, not vague and hard to define.Beyond that, though I couldn't really grasp what he meant by "the tone". It wasn't really about accuracy to real world analogs, is the impression I got, but rather authenticity of experience and feeling. Worth noting though, that his experience is that of a modern day professional soldier, in a professional military. Not exactly a universal military experience, though one would assume some carryover of concepts even to pre-modern military. Especially if that pre-modern style military apes modern conventions and structure.
>>25093632>Titus Groan>Gormenghast>Titus Alone
>>25095026>phallus' depth
>>25094833They're right. I love Malazan but it's not military fantasy.
>>25094889May be taking your use of "niggas" too seriously but I've thought about writing a fantasy story about a !not-African prince who realizes how much his people gained from the vanished !not-European colonists and leads a coup to make his country into a real civilizationif this sounds retarded it's bc I was inspired by the Kanye West Heil Hitler video
>>25095115Yeah I’m not sure why the guy in the comments is using his modern experience as the standard for how the military would operate
>>25095375Realismfags are desperate to not get mogged by rule-of-cool chads (who actually wrote the classics)
>>25094777Night Winds, as it's a short story collection. You can read the rest in any order you wish.
>>25094515Dude really shouldn't have shaved his beard.
/r/equesting the Brando Sando poem.
Wait a minute…. Elantris has better prose than everything Sanderson wrote after it. What’s going on?
>>25095605He had all the time in the world to write Elantris and as a new writer was edited rigorously. His new books were all written in a mad rush with zero quality control.
>>25095371It mostly sounds dumb bc the not!African prince, even if he ends up in charge, is still ruling over a nation of not!Africans. Africa hasn't been entirely without intelligent and driven leaders, it just turns out the leader isn't all that matters.
>>25095025I think it's ludicrous to expect "captain" to be equal to your modern US/NATO ranks, especially when IIRC malazan captains are in charge of mages who are worth a hundred normal soldiers.I would understand if he griped about a "centurion" not being in charge of a hundred men, but even then it varied in the real world too. One need not look further than real world militaries to find out that ranks and especially their names are not always equivalent between militaries (t. was in the military (not US))
>>25095785"It's not like real life" is the most midwit criticism of any fantasy setting. Like yeah obviously it's not.
>>25094889Isn't that essentially the entire YA SFF genre? The protagonists are always good and their cause is right, and the antagonists are purely evil baby killers.
>>25094908Yep, but it's mostly a thing about vibes and atmosphere.
Rhulad Sengar. Tragic or just an asshole?
>>25095912Shakespearean character
>>25095912Shallow character from yet another tabletop campaign, the kind of "tragedy" a 12-year-old would come up with while listening to The Cure
>>25095912he was a retard but he didn't deserve what he got
>>25095961>the kind of "tragedy" a 12-year-old would come up with while listening to The CureThat's the best kind of tragedy for genre fiction.
>>25095912his character in RG is quite sad. His own kin basically abandon him and his family ends up dying by his hand. I think he genuinely tried to be a good king but he was too retarded for the role and ended up being manipulated by the chancellor insteadhe should not have ntred his brother though
>>25095912Tragic Retard
Read chapters 4 and 5 of The Great Ordeal. Holy kino. I didn't quite get that more surreal sequence with the head on the pole and whatever that means.Kill all Dunyain.
Had just finished the Second Apocalypse series which is my first fantasy books. Absolutely phenomenal though it did slog at some parts. Where do the fanbase hangout? I would like to talk more about it?
Anyone know any fantasy stories where the MC is simultaneously really smart and really stupid?Kind of like Anakin Skywalker. He's always either 5000IQ or utterly retarded.
>>25096162>Where do the fanbase hangout?we are literally here right next to you. This book is deemed problematic by reddit and tiktok except for maybe r/bakker
>>25096167Boy have I got a book for you, it's called Name of the Wind...
>>25093629I don't like the name of this drive.
>another thread of Star Wars, Bakker, and NotWI wish I had a place to discuss books I read on the internet.
>>25096287I notice you mentioned Star Wars, Bakker and Name of the Wind but nothing else. Could it be that you don't actually have a book you've read and would like to talk about?
>>25096291Yes I mentioned the most recently discussed books in this thread. More of the same shit.
>>25096295You still haven't said what book it is you've read that you wanted to talk about though. Why are you like this? Do you just want attention and don't care how you get it?
>>25096297>random strawmen because I didn't act receptive to the same megapopular filth discussed in every single threadI hope you have a better day.
>>25096287we could talk about Sanderson if you want~
>>25096301This is the THIRD (3rd) time I'm asking you to name the book you've read and want to discuss. Your refusal to do so shows only that you have no books you want to discuss and that you're only complaining because you want attention, there's nothing random about this, it's an accurate deduction based on your behavior.Either reply with the book you want to talk about or don't bother at all.
>>25096306>we could talk about other <hypermega normalfag-approved author here>But that's the problem!!!
>>25096311still not seeing what you'd specifically rather discuss
MALAZAN SANDERSON TOLKIEN. MALAZAN SANDERSON TOLKIEN. MALAZAN SANDERSON TOLKIEN. MALAZAN SANDERSON TOLKIEN. MALAZAN SANDERSON TOLKIEN. MALAZAN SANDERSON TOLKIEN. MALAZAN SANDERSON TOLKIEN. MALAZAN SANDERSON TOLKIEN. MALAZAN SANDERSON TOLKIEN. Every thread.
>>25096310You are making up a strawman about my personal life because I did not make a positive post about>one of the top 10 highest grossing global franchises>some random two-book series some faggot wrote SIXTEEN years ago>tradpub spammed-for-6+-years all throughout most threadsLol.>>25096318But anon why would you EVER want to discuss anything but Tolkien or <popular author here>? EX DEE
>>25096318Thanks for proving me right btw, you don't even read books so you couldn't discuss one up even if your life depended on it
>>25096318How would one go about changing such a state of affairs, anon? Could it be that you could actually do something other than whine, such as perhaps posting a book you like, and maybe the situation would change for the better?No, its impossible, better bitch forever and make posts of less substance than even the ones you complain about.
>so mad he replied twice because somebody insulted Star WarsLOL
>>25096318You know you could just make a post about the things you want to talk about.
>>25096343I want someone else to talk about it for me. Why don't you lazy bums make video essays so I can listen to them while playing Civilization IV on the easiest difficulty?
>>25094782I want to buy the Elric omnibuses but I'm too afraid to get the wrong book because they usually use the same titles.
>>25096121>I didn't quite get that more surreal sequence with the head on the pole and whatever that means.nta somebody explain this
>>25096287
>>25096371
>>25096367Elric is far easier to get into than any other of Moorcock's series, There's The Elric Saga Volume 1, Volume 2 and Volume 3, then The Citadel of Forgotten Myths, and then if you're a true Elric Fanboy there's The Folk of the Forest which was published in New Edge Sword & Sorcery issue 1. I'd highly recommend reading Moorcock, his prose isn't the best (though IMO it's quite good once he hits his peak from the 80's to the early 2000's) but he is wildly creative and he's probably the most influential Fantasy author since Tolkien, he's definitely worth reading for that alone.
>>25096388Yeah, I like his works very much. Behold the Man and what I've read so far of Elric and The Dancers at the End of Time. I have The Golden Barge in my to read pile.
>>25096430Ah ok, I assumed you were a novitiate, my apologies for patronising you. I haven't actually read the Golden Barge or the Dancers at the End of Time, I'll get to Dancers eventually though, perhaps after I finish the Pyat Quartet.
>>25096434No apologies needed! Golden Barge is supposed to be his earliest book although he had left it in limbo for decades before revising it and publishing it. Dancers is quite a riot, although The End of All Songs is a bit overlong; there's even a short story where it crossovers with Elric and everything.
>>25094220Ishura is good as well.
>>25094515I still can't get over that "its ruin was overseen by the architect of its very destruction" line. I have read 2000s anime fanfiction written by a spastic 15 year old girl with better prose.
>>25093869Here it is.
>>25096445I am intrigued.
>>25096438>Golden Barge is supposed to be his earliest book although he had left it in limbo for decades before revising it and publishing itThis is quite intriguing actually, I wonder how it fits into the cosmology of his later work? I'll have to put it on the to be read list. Thanks anon.
>>25096456>I wonder how it fits into the cosmology of his later work?You mean if it's somehow part of his Multiverse? If so, I don't know.
>>25096447It's pulp. Correia can't write anything else.
>>25094515I like Douglas as a person, but my god does his writing absolutely SUCK. Archetypal 14 year old fanfic prose.
>>25096469Yeah not until you read it, of course. Though I bet there is a sort of primordial version of his Multiverse in it. I normally hate crossover Multiversal stories like in those dogshit Marvel superhero movies, but Moorcock was really the first to do it so I can give him a pass.
>>25095375In the case of Malazan, it's probably because the Malazan military has a very modern structure to it, at least as far as its terminology and superficial formations go. You have "squads" which have corporals and sergeants as lower ranked officers, you have "companies" with captains and their lieutenants as junior officers, you have regular infantry and marines... it feels more modern than it does medieval. So I could see his criticism from the perspective of a modern day soldier as fair, in that case.
>>25096471Splendid, I love pulp and I will buy a copy immediately.
>>25094515Dunk and Egg is so goated, the right can't what fake and gay culture war stance to take on it. There have been threads on /tv/ these past few days claiming the left hates it for being "too white" (with nary a 13-follow literallywho to cite) while in completely different threads, rightoids are seething about the race and sex swapping of a one-off character.
>>25096517The novella is one of the greatest ever written. The show is not nearly as good (though it is by far the best ASOIAF adaptation) I don't want to get into the culture war stuff. I'd highly recommend anons read it even if you're not a gurm fan it's fairly different from his other work.
>>25096371Please do not upset the Star Wars fanboy further.
>>25096477>Moorcock was really the first to do itPoor guy, he was a pioneer of many things fantastic but few know so and never was properly acknowledged.
Way better than i expected honestly. Thought it would be a straight critique against faith and Christianity but it turned out to be pretty based.
>>25096557>ChristianitySF indeed.
>>25096558My favorite was when he posted about a book he read, had one word to describe it with, and used "based". Literal bot post.
>>25096556He was very popular back in the day but he's since fallen out of fashion. I expect there will be a resurgence of interest once he passes.
>>25096471Yes? Any other selling points?
>>25096575If you like Trump propaganda, he's your man.
>>25096574It must suck to be quietly influential. They don't remember you until you die and then they realize how much good you did.
>>25096556What did he pioneer?
>>25096578Absolute kek
>>25096611NTA but:>The concept of a "Multiverse" with characters from different universes who cross over and interact with each other.>The eight-pointed star as a symbol of chaos in Fantasy literature and art (you'll see this everywhere if you look for it)>The "Eternal Champion" who is one soul that reincarnates as different Heroes and appears in times of great need.I would also say that his Melnibonéans inspired the modern fantasy trope of "Dark Elves" as in a race of long lived or immortal fairy-like people who are indolent and get off on torturing and mistreating others.Now to be fair, he didn't exactly come up with all of these ideas out of nothing, but he certainly popularized them. I'm sure there are other things too, this is all just off the top of my head.
>>25096623Also,his epic fantasy was not too romantic, which was quite unheard of in post-Tolkien UK.
>>25096616>Right-winger lets leftists decide what he should read while thinking he's owning them Every time.
>>25093834dark fantasy has lost its spirit, now we call what dark fantasy was, grim dark
>>25096623>The concept of a "Multiverse" with characters from different universes who cross over and interact with each other.I don't know if he really popularized those things. DC comics already had the multiverse before Moorcock. And Marvel/DC is what everyone thinks about when you talk about multiverses.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_of_Two_Worlds>modern fantasy trope of "Dark Elves"Dark elves were popularized by Gygax's D&D, like the dark elves in modern Japanese fantasy come from TTRPGs not Elric.>The "Eternal Champion" who is one soul that reincarnates as different Heroes and appears in times of great need.He got this from Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson. Could be that he popularized it.>The eight-pointed star as a symbol of chaos in Fantasy literature and art (you'll see this everywhere if you look for it)That's true. 40K got this symbol from Moorcock.
>>25096649I've never heard of Flash of Two worlds but I don't read comic books. I thought DC started doing that stuff with Crisis on Infinite Earths but it looks like I'm just wrong. As for Gygax, he was open about being inspired by Moorcock for the alignment system in D&D, so he was familiar with his work. I don't know if Gygax ever said anything about the inspiration of the Drow specifically, but they're very similar to Moorcock's Melnibonéans in attitude and aesthetics though their culture is different. I've never heard of Three Hearts and Three Lions, so yeah it looks like Moorcock ripped off Poul Anderson and popularized his idea. Regardless, it seems like you're more well educated on this stuff than I am, so thanks for correcting me.
>>25096623An eight-pointed star is a common symbol within religious beliefs across many cultures, commonly related to Ishtar, and Chaos.
>>25096666I'm aware of the Star of Ishtar (though Moorcock's star is aesthetically distinct from it) but I've never heard of historical use of the Octogram to represent chaos, I would love to read more about this if you can provide me a source.
>>25096325>>25096336Dude have you read this epic fantasy called MALAZAN. It's highly underrated and a hidden gem. But it's so dense you will probably not get it. Did you know that Tolkien actually made up an entire new language for LOTR? Hail Sanderson!
>>25096649The first Elric story was published in 1961, when Gygax was probably a toddler yet.>>25096660Moorcock acknowledged the influence of that Anderson book in some preludes to his Elric books. There was also another writer, an obscure English one whose name I don't remember, who also influenced his multiverse concept.
>>25096753Gary Gygax was one year older than Moorcock actually.
would be funny if we create a fantasy book/story lol, this silly idea crossed my mind
>>25096803now that is quite silly and intriguing at the same time!
>>25096803Hasn't this general done short story anthologies before? If not that would be a neat project if someone (not me) wanted to go to the effort of editing one together
>>25096849This is not the writing general.
>>25096851Obviously, the people here can actually string a sentence together.
>>25096635>Right-winger lets leftists decide what he should readIf even that, I'd bet he bought the book and never opened it so now it's just collecting dust
>>25096803Someone here has.
>>25096803Been working on one. You guys aren't?
>>25096445Been waiting for the next book in that series for years, what is Larry up to?
>>25096881i is. mine will be better den yours stupid bitch lol u probly read sanderson and stephen king!
>>25096857No, it doesn't get any less tiring
>>25094889mistborn. the evil is always the Guberment though
>>25096885He said in 2024 that the next in the series will be called Instruments of Violence. Larry is currently working on his MHI series, Academy of Outcasts series, American Paladin series, and some new things for Ark Press. I believe Larry is actually waiting for Steve Diamond to write the draft, but Steve apparently has been busy with his corporate job, even their podcast WriterDojo has been on hiatus since 2023.
>>25094889Come to me... I have so much to show you...
>>25096886I don't care.
>>25096911oh so you do read thos faggots lol what a restard
>>25096915I don't care.
>>25096909This
I want to re-read A Voyage to Arcturus
>>25096951same but only to remind myself how awful it is
More books like this about weird people living in a weird castle/city/location?
>>25097139
Just finished Wizard of Earthsea, spoilers: I figured the shadow's name was Ged about half way through, when did you figure it out, if you did?
>>25096758OK, but it was Moorcock that first came up with the idea.That reminds me, there was an Elric RPG but it hasn't been reprinted since the 70s.
>>25096909Namor?
>>25097213How did you find out?
>>25097279 When it knew his name. I thought it was either that or Vetch was evil and I didn't want to believe Vetch was evil.
>>25096445It's probably decent because Correia, but that's an ugly looking mech.
>>25096557Kinda wish he had the aliens explain how natural theology doesn't lead to modal collapse. It was a less forced redemptive ending than I expected though.
Just finished Strength of the Few. Defenetly better than the first book (which is overhyped imo). My only complain is that the first 2/5 of the book is very on-rails.
>>25096517then don't swap them, woketard
>>25094669the same it always meant, and nobody normal wants it
>>25095389Yep
>another sanderson book to be releasedHis work is so so but I admire that he's able to pump out so many books fast. If only some other authors could work just as fast...
>>25097602I think both books are very overhyped but I appreciated that book 2mixed it up as I got bored of hogwarts but in ancient magical Rome quite quickly. I found all the multiple viewpoints of various version of Vis confusing at times especially when there are lots of names thrown at you. I just found it hard to remember what was going on at points.The book felt incredibly rushed at times but also like nothing was happening at the same time. I think there's potential as it's an interesting world but it needs some better editing I think.
No-God when
>>25097650Kneel
Best book where the protagonist is destined to become some kind of evil lord
>>25097776Dune
Okay so apparently talking about Malazan makes some people horribly upset, but I still feel like the Moranth are an underexplored group and the origins of their munitions and odd bug-ways are some of the most interesting and exotic materials in the series.There have been any number of fantasy series that take place at a time period where gunpowder is just being developed (for example Realm of the Elderlings) or features some use of gunpowder weapons, but in no others series have grenades, mines and bombs played such a major role. That I've read.So now I'm posing a question about other series. Is something like Powder Mage a good read? From what I understand that series makes heavy use of gunpowder both for firearms and for magic.
>>25097811Powder mage is fun but it's more like a Sanderson series than Malazan. Don't let that put you off though. I like the French Revolution baroque era gun magic they have
>>25097811I could barely understand what you posted but Monarchies of God is great. There’s a good amount of firearm usage and there are also eastern and religious factions that prefer more traditional ways of fightingGreat pacing, great battles, barely any magic use and a likeable core cast of characters
>>25097735There's always someone nerdier than you
>steam punkI will proceed to not read your book
In the mood for some sci-fi. As a newbie in the genre, what do you guys recommend?. I was thinking about starting with Tchaikovsky or "The Three-Body Problem"
>>25097650>I admire that he's able to pump out so many books fastQuantity over quality you prefer? This is why we can't have nice things.
>>25096803Go ahead and do it if you want, if you're suggesting we all do it together then no because fiction designed by committee is always shit.
>>25098016Start with Childhood's End, to signal your exit from childish fantasies into the sphere of highly intellectual fictions.
>>25098016yes, tchailkovsky is fine to start or Blindsight for hard modern sci fi. I personally like older pulp sci fi or new wave. Check these out sometime.The Stars my DestinationInverted WorldVermilion SandsRoadside Picnic Lord of LightThe Dragon Masters
>>25096803As an award-winning short-story writer, I think this idea is too silly to use
>>25098024Sanderson is both quality and quantity tho
>>25098074It most certainly is not. Every book is bigger and more stupidly written than the one that came before it.
Is the Night Land the ultimate feet appreciator fantasy/horror or is there another?
>>25098090That is wrong. Sanderson writes absolute Kino.
>>25098016Start with some of the older classics or common recs:Enders Game / Speaker for the DeadHyperionFoundation / I RobotDuneChildhoods End / Rendezvous with RamaBlood Music / EonNeuromancerSnow Crash / The Diamond AgeA Fire Upon the Deep
>>25098039>award-winning short-story writerwhat's your story about?
>>25098118Well basically it's about a person who wants to become famous by breaking a centuries-old enchantment that makes a city live the same day over and over forever. Over the course of the story the person visits this city three different times but it's always the same day so three differention versions exist simultaneously
>>25098074There's only one person who can do both quality and quantity at the same time, and he's a chubby-chasing Canadian
>>25098038>Vermilion SandsMy first Ballard and still my favorite.
>>25098117>Enders Game / Speaker for the Dead>Blood Music / Eon1980s SF sucks.
>>25098145based
>>25098184You have plebian taste if you really believe those are bad books.
>>25098240Give me the classics anytime, not the most hyped hackwork.
Peter Wiggin takes the place of Joffrey in GOT. How do the seven kingdoms fare
should I buy the expanse books 2 and 3 or asimov's empire trilogy first? I'm not very big on either of those series but I do want to finish them
>>25098035The "Childhood's End" referred to Arthur C. Clarke ending the childhood of the Sri Lankan children he was raping.
I have been nominated for a Nebula. Ask me anything.
>>25098378How is your Lived Experience as a Black lesbian BIPOC?
>>25098378Why do you think awards are relevant nowadays?
>>25098378Is this the Nebula award or a partnership with the platform all the video essayists on Youtube shill?
>>25098389They aren't. I have made peanuts with my story.>>25098397Nebula award.
>>25098378toilet paper in or out?
Any recommendations for something similar to Bernard Cornwell's "The Winter King"? I like how it handles the Arthurian myth like a realistic chronicle of a desperate struggle for something greater, in a time of strife among the ruins of a greater civilization.
>>25097678when im done thousand fold thought, havent read in like 3 days
>>25098359The Expanse is not worth finishing
>>25098444In. Always in.
>>25098024Nigger there is no "quality" if it takes you 15 fucking years to write one FUCKING BOOK FUCK YOU YOU FAT FUCK
>>25098477Heresy.
>>25098113Post top 5 authors besides Sanderson
Any book with a atmosphere similar to old EverQuest?
Just finished rereading 1q84. Next up I'm going to do the commonwealth series, as recommended by anons on here. Hopefully it's good given that it's so long
>>25098378Sci-fi or fantasy?Congrats, I hope you win it.
>>25098240STAR WARS MALAZAN TOLKIEN ROTHFUSS BAKKER BLAST
>there came a tremendous explosion of oaths and other noisesDoes oaths mean something different in this context, or does it mean they're loudly proclaiming various oaths?
>>25098947> Does oaths mean something different in this contextYes, it can mean swearing.
>>25096121>>25096368What part of R e i g n i n H e l l do you not understand?
Why did it take 400 pages for Howling Dark to get good? In any case I'm glad it's good again.
>>25098971I laugh at you while I read non generic tradpub modern year filth that is good from page one.
>>25098107Forcing snooker players to drink water is a sick joke.
>>25098378Are you lying about your sexual identity? Are you black? Are you a legitimate gay nigger?
>>25098781Riftwar Cycle maybe?
>>25094112>I am having a hard time coming up with a genuinely wise figure like Gandalf I can recall from recent fantasy or sci-fiSazed?
>>25098947>>25098950of course oaths mean "swearing". what you meant was simple profanity/bad words>>25098983ooh, and that's a bad miss.
I just finished this recently and really enjoyed the fact that Knaak actually made the dragons more than just glorified mounts and had them scheming/plotting/etc. Also, I found another thing Paolini cribbed for Eragon as it's basically the same plot but better and written in 1989.
>>25093698He has a great, unique authorial voice which he also unable to deviate from, so all his protagonists and narrators sound exactly alike. It's like he made a wish on a monkey paw.
>>25099003> swearing an oathNo, I meant swearing. The idea was to show anon how "oaths" can also mean "expletives" depending on context.
>>25094725>dude what if fantasy but le morally graySo unique
>>25099059It's hard to pick apart why it's different than most, but it is.I think what makes it work is that the moral grayness of his villains (and just about everyone else) feels modern. A typical source of mixed morality comes from the medieval setting - a warrior that keeps a slave, a noble that fights for good causes but is a rapist or pedophile, etc. Sometimes they lean on something more fantastical, like a curse, magical tragic backstory, etc.With Parker it's more likely to be an otherwise normal person who is greedy because they want to make enough gold to retire. or they betray someone but it's not a big deal because the other person betrayed them too and it's just sorta what happens in the underground.the tone is closer to a crime or action movie that has light moments and comedy
>>25094231Youtubers are now calling it the Schlomo Drive. I mean the Solomon Drive.
>>25099059You just look like a twat saying that when it comes to K.J.Parker. Because that's exactly what he is, unique in the genre.
>>25099096Back to Twitter with you
>>25098343Ned goes to the Wall without controversy, Renly gets arrested for homosexuality and Stannis for some trumped up religious apostasy crimes. Balon does nothing because there's no chaos. Everything Joffrey was already concerned about regarding Dany gets addressed and they crush the dragons while they're still the size of a large lizard.If you made Joffrey just a little smarter there's like no way the Lannisters lose.
>>25093698>>25094725I've only read Making History and I really, really liked it until the last like 20 pages when it suddenly got really, really retarded. I'm not one to usually complain about girlbosses, but the girlboss prostitute being so much of a genius was too much for me, even if she was a plant by the enemy nation and everything about the ending's twist felt way too contrived.
>>25099133>Because that's exactly what he is, unique in the genre.Nonsense, shit authors abound.
>>25099157He seems to have a recent problem with his endings. >>25093698 is the best thing he's written in a long time until the last few pages when it falls off a cliff. I think I understand what he was aiming for the the execution failed, at least for me, but it seems to be a common complaint about that book.
>>25099162All you're doing it proving to everyone you've never read a single one of his books.
>>25098378Congratz anon I hope it wins
>>25099173>what if le pure knight was ackshually le bad
>>25099096So it's actual moral grayness and not the grimdark "grayness"?>>25099141I'm sorry you're so much of a manchild you need everything to be an 80s cartoon
>>25097811Byzantine grenades and flamethrowers were a thing in the 600s-700s. I don't think I've seen anyone use that tech in fantasy. I guess dragons are technically Byzantine flamethrowers?
>>25099230>woah dude this knight is good but also does things that modern day twitter will find le problematic? >what a morally gray unique author
>>25099265>but I still feel like the (insert group name here) are an underexplored groupMalazan in a nutshell. I'm starting to understand it's not really complex, this fag just drops plot threads for no reason and I imagine he'll pretend it was all part of his keikaku in the last book.
>>25099278>I don't know what I'm talking about but I want to sounds like a cynical badass by badmouthing this series so I'll make up something vague enough that other people who haven't read the series (that was finished in 2011) will think is a scathing criticism of its structureAnon pleasePls
>>25099285Tell me about Gareth anon. Oh wait you can't. Homie was too busy writing about fat chicks, rape, and potsherds to actually write coherent stories.
Recommend me some lovely prose in fantasy? I've already read most of the big writers (Vance, Wolfe, McKillip, Schweitzer, CAS)
>>25099380You've probably read him, but its not on your list so obviously Peake
>>25099380unironically, Kushiel's Dart
>>25099380Tolkein and not just LOTR. The Silmarillion and Children of Hurin are beautiful.
>>25093687How is it even in question? His entire dilemma is being a closeted, self-hating fag in a society that abhors homosexuality. It's evident from almost the very beginning he's introduced in the series.
>>25099286If you had actually read the books, you’d know the name Gareth is never mentioned in the main series. It’s not the epic gotcha you think it is>muh fat chicks, rape, potsherdsIt’s way too easy to spot someone who hasn’t read the series and is just parroting shitposts from /sffg/. This has been debunked many times yet you’re still trying to push that narrative for whatever reasons. At this point you’re probably more obsessed with fat women than SE himselfIt wouldn’t bother me this much if you retarded subhuman had actually read the books and put a little effort into your trolling
reading newer stuff from Greg Egan and it's impressive how uninteresting these characters arehttps://www.gregegan.net/DIDICOSM/Complete/Didicosm.html
>>25098977like what?
>>25099271you're getting very worked up over things that weren't said, or even implied. what's going on?
is there a new edition of Kane in french?
>>25097648Ah yes, the famously niche and normie-repellant Game of Thrones franchise... Only deranged woke freaks account for the third highest viewer premier in HBO history.kek
>>25099937doesn't game of thrones has like no woke shit written in the books?? no trannies or what ever triggers you??
Reading this and nearly done. I am so sick of these obvious dumb plot twists. Spoilers: Moonlet filled with antimatter? Better cut into it purely by guesswork. Definitely don't ask the AI inside that's answered like everything asked.Oh the Chinese want to take over the ship? How could they they're locked in their quarters? Oh they put LSD in the air supply (through magic chemistry) and for some reason they can get out of the locked rooms but the Americans can't? The twist just seem like plot holes or braindead characters. Why would a chief engineer be outside looking at an engine and not with her team watching all of the sensors? Ahh because she needed to tragically die. Liked the premise but just got sick of it towards the end.
>>25098820I just finished Nigh Without Stars (Commonwealth 7), it's so good bros. Even if you don't get into it you can stop after book 2, the three sub-series are all self-contained stories. I'm re-reading Reality Dysfunction now, I remember not liking the supernatural elements when I read it ~10 years ago but the scifi setting is peak. Also all the rape and penis-in-vagina descriptions get old, Hamilton is such an incel.
I want to read Fire Upon the Deep but feel I may be too dumb for it
>>25100051Hey, the lower you go the less you need to understand!
So what about nonfiction books on SFFT? Any favourites, recommendations...?
>>25100084No books but you may enjoy this essay by Stephen Donaldsonhttps://www.stephenrdonaldson.com/EpicFantasy.pdf
>>25100097>Stephen DonaldsonHe actually means "rape fantasy", right?
>>25100116>Unfortunately, my mother raised me to be nice to old people and cripples, so I tried to give him a serious answer. "No"
>>25099987u right on all this
This entire sequence still triggers me immensely. I've been debating with myself over whether to end reading the series based on this. And I say this as somebody who doesnt even like Cnauir that much.I'm just sort of tired of these weird frequent Humiliation rituals all these characters are subject to, that all happen to tacitly involve Esmenet, due to the fact that Kellhus is Super Jesus and can do whatever the fuck he wants, so nothing in relation to him actually matters beyond the result. I've been trying to find the value of writing these scenarios. How does this deepen any character? It doesnt introduce any new understanding of them? We already knew that Achamian was cucked hard to Esmenet, even before he got cucked. Desperate to feel normal with her.And we also already knew that Cnauir was figuratively cucked to Kellhus, and cant control his own feelings, and thoughts.So this scene gives us nothing new, nothing interesting, beyond showing us the sheer power that Esmenet now has, by being married to Super Jesus.I've put up with this bullshit not for 1 book now. But 2 books. If I have to put up with this retarded bullshit for 3 books now, where Esmenet, is even more glorified that stupid shit like this can happen. Then how am I supposed to believe anything is going to suddenly change? That the characters are suddenly going to become deep? That the problem of Kellhus being able to do whatever the fuck he wants, so much so, that the process no longer matters, simply the fact that he was involved, means what he wants will succeed. So starving retard soldiers, can go and kill an army bigger, and more well fed than them, simply because.............they believe in Super Jesus even harder now than they ever have.Or what of the fact that Kellhus' mind reading makes it so that no character has any actual character of their own, theyre jist something to be used by Kellhus or discarded if they cant be used, because he magically knows everything about them and can puppet them. Fundamentally reducing every single character purely to their desires and feelings. Everything surface level about them, while ironically pretending, that simply because it had to be revealed, means it was not surface level.But thats the problem. Depth comes from the UNRAVELING OF WHAT WAS NOT SEEN.Depth comes from the fundamental understanding of what was not understood.So if you skip the understanding part, and get straight to knowledge, then theres no longer any depth, any substance. There cant be meaning.Yes. I figure this is exactly Bakkers point about determinism and whatever.Id just wager, that despite the fact I agree with his assertions loosely. He shirks having to deal with the entire problem of what makes the question of free will vs determinism interesting in the first place. The fact that we are yet made to feel as if we have any will of our own.I am frustrated. Is there any point continuing?
>>25100336>Is there any point continuing?Keep reading, anon. We want to see the whole book posted in these sfft threads.
lol.
very boring dialogue and interaction. ive never skimmed through a book so fast, and yet felt it wasnt fast enough.
maybe kellhus still has some use, to be the only one to say what should be said, even if its all hollow.
>>25099954As much shit as asoiaf gets, you’re right it at least doesnt have woke slop. Gurm’s female characters are some of the most borderline red pilling women in fantasy. Surprised he has as many female readers as he does, desu.
>tfw no mommy empress gf
Tried reading Revelation Space. ts (Thissu shittu) is boring af (ass fukku) I'n going back to Pale Fire
Releasing one 600 page book a year is very easy because that's just 2 pages a day. That's basically what a teen does for schoolwork.
>>25094103Odd, my experience was the exact opposite. Prince of Nothing was good when it was about the characters but spent an unreasonable amount of time talking about the exploits of non-characters in battles with no real relevance to the story. Judging Eye and WLW are far and away his best work imo, and I'd happily recommend him if all of his work was that quality. The last two go back to wasting time on recitations of deeds and events, and Kelhus is a lot more compelling as a bogeyman than a character.
>>25098446The Broken Sword, Poul Anderson
>>25100336>I am frustrated. Is there any point continuing?Kellhus doesn't really show up for the next two books and they're better for it.
>>25100671Does Bakker learn to write characters, that wouldn't be wooed by one outspoken observation from Kellhus by then? Just because Kellhus is gone doesnt necessarily mean he stops writing shallow characters that would succumb to Kellhus after one convo.
>>25100721Yes, but also no, because in the first half of AE most of the characters have wised up to his tricks and won't be used by him again, but then in the second half he reappears and reveals that all of this was just as planned, and everyone immediately begins cucking out to him again.
>>25100743>but then in the second half he reappears and reveals that all of this was just as planned, and everyone immediately begins cucking out to him again.Kek Bakker just cant help himself can he? I almost want to keep reading just so I can fathom how he possibly gets away with writing such a thing
>>25100790I mean, the entire Second Apocalypse is just a vehicle for Bakker to show off how his unbeatable ubermensch self insert defeats every obstacle by simply adopting his pet philosophy. He's basically Terry Goodkind but a Homer fanboy instead of an Ayn Rand fanboy.
>>25100829Why is it always the shit philosophies that get aggresively integrated into fiction novels? And who do they always miss the fact of philosophy that its constantly responding to and engaging with itself.Determinism fundamentally doesnt mean anything without the belief of free will, and if you dont establish enough of a basis for free will to be atleast valid, even if not legitimate, then how can it mean anything?
What is the Fantasy counterpart of Hard Scifi?
>>25100854First let's specify hard sci fi. Le serious contemporary "this is for real how things will be in the future/gadgets will work but actually not." example Blindsight. Where as old pulp is just fun with ideas and alien worlds. Example Jack Vance's the Dragon Masters.So let's say hard fantasy has 2 counterparts that can be branched off in a few ways. 1. The meme example of George RR Martins tax policy. Game of Thrones is trying to be gritty and realistic instead of romantic like LoTR. 2. soft whimsy magic in Harry Potter or pulp sword and sorcery vs. gay autistic video game magic system.
>>25100854Hard fantasy? The Silmarillion kekReal answer is probably something with a rules based magic system like Sanderson
>>25100854there is no 1:1 since the "hard" part of "hard scifi" denotes realism where the term "fantasy" itself denies realism. as a side note, fuck GRRM and fuck moral grey.
>>25100907But hard scifi denotes that this is "real" scifi that doesn't break the rules of the genre, isn't it?So hard fantasy is fantasy that plays by the themes of fantasy.
>>25100929No, that's not what that means. The scale of sci-fi hardness has to do with the realism of the science involved, not genre tropes.
>>25100935SCIENCE fiction. So hard scifi is just a genre where the science part isn't just given lip service.
>>25100939You're trying really hard to win an argument, but you can't argue your way to victory when you've got your definitions wrong.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_science_fiction>Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic.
new thread>>25101037
>>25100362I haven't read these books but how is someone's womb a "hospice for men"? A hospice? Are those babies dying?
>>25100854Probably low fantasy (imaginary medieval-style world, minimal magic that is well understood and explained to the reader)
>>25100303Honestly thank you. Just needed somewhere to vent.
>>25100854low fantasy
