>Previous: >>25339380>Recommended reading charts (look here before asking for vague recommendations):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
>>25351798I kinda wanted to write a slice of life about a retired fantasy adventurer just observing how the world changes with the emergence of new heroes.
In centuries time, do you think authors will be writing fantasy novels based on our era? Like a hero's journey about a young wagie who has to defeat the HR witches before confronting the evil CEO. Maybe he turns out to be half jewish and it gives him magical finance powers.
>>25351798I have that edition of The Broken Sword. It’s the original one before the changes were made to make it less epic sounding. Poul Anderson got the language and poetic flair to make it sound Eddic, but it was ruined in the edits for later editions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKvmYcGOCkEit's up
>>25351814Unlikely. If they want to write about the past they will go to the middles ages or earlier like we do today. Any story we set in the 21st century could easily be set during the 22nd even if we get robots, flying cars, or colonies in space.
Anyone have a recommendation for a space opera book? Something that feels similar to Farscape or Mass Effect
>>25352072The Sun Eater series
Anyone read To Your Scattered Bodies Go?
im chillin
>>25352196I've read it; thought it was awful tbqh desu
>>25352076Anything good?
>>25352234That is good.
>>25351798Is picrel tranny shit?
>>25352296Only in the sense that you may be offended. There aren't any transgender characters.
>>25352295It is good that he knows it isn't good
>>25351819I didn't know this was the case. It might interest you to learn that the current ebook edition (from Gollancz) is the 1954 text rather than the revised edition for some reason. I only read that one and now having looked up the revised text I can't imagine why Anderson could have done it, it's practically vandalism. I wonder if Lin Carter had something to do with it since it was a Ballantine release and he was well known for fucking with people's work (Zothique comes to mind).
>>25352072there's always pic related if you can find them.
>>25352296Its worth reading if you want to relive the worst excesses of woke era publishing, and have your eyes violently roll out your head.
>>25352072revelation space trilogy is what mass effect ripped its main story beats from
>>25352380What are some of the changes in the revised text?
I'm thinking about quitting Sun Eater again
>>25352196Long ago. It was fun but the sequels aren't.
>>25352498Glad to hear it pagespammer, quit the thread entirely.
Bouncing between Tress of the Emerald Sea, Laurus, and Morning Star. I'm reading too many books right now but I have the urge to start another.
>>25352537Why aren't I allowed to talk about books like everyone else?
>>25352552Because you talk about it way too much, hence why it's called "spaming", thank you for your attention.
>>25351798Books where humanity die in a bad bad way?
>>25352552You aren't talking about science fiction/fantasy. You're navel gazing about YOUR OWN PERSONAL PERCEPTION of every single page and you do it in a very gay, pretentious, annoying way.You wax philosophical about shit nobody cares about and then have the audacity to think of yourself as superior to the rest of us for having done so.In short, you're the single biggest psuedointellectual, self-absorbed fart sniffing pretentious cunt that I've seen on this board in MANY years and this is on /lit/ of all places.You might have been forgiven for it if it had been deep, philosophical works posted in a philosophy thread but NOOOOO, you do it with BOILERPLATE, LOW BROWN DOGSHIT GENRE FICTION.You're the fattest fly on a hill of shit and think that makes you some kind of king. You're easily the dumbest motherfucker here.Read the fucking room, you autistic fucking psychopath.
>>25352787The Genocides by Thomas M. Disch.
>>25352820KEK, TRUKE
>>25352552You are, but you don't talk about books like everybody else. You treat this thread like your personal blog, you make dozens of meandering, stream of consciousness posts while blathering about minutiae of little or no relevance to whatever you're reading. As evidenced by the fact that you have engendered no actual discussion about any books despite the huge volume of posts you've created, you're absolutely terrible at talking about books and should stop. But you've been told this, several times, and clearly you do it to antagonize everybody here.
>>25352787Remembrance of Earth's Past
>>25352483Some of the more notable narrative changes are the removal of explicit incest and mention of Satan, otherwise much of the language was toned down and made less archaic.
>>25352380>I wonder if Lin Carter had something to do with it since it was a Ballantine release and he was well known for fucking with people's workThat's disappointing to read. He had republished so much good stuff in that nostalgia-prone decade.
>>25352820Spamtranny been REAL quiet since this dropped.
>>25353301What am I to say? contrary to what people think of me here, I dont actually post that much let alone to spite or anger people deliberately. I post when I have thoughts and feelings on fantast and sci fi literature, and lately I've been stuck on Sun Eater so I don't have much to say. I'm debating taking a break through watching a TV showBesides you guys really suck for discussion
Shut up, PIG. Never @ me ever again.
Anybody ever notice how quickly the thread dies whenever spampigger makes a post?
>>25353333Say what you're watching. You don't because you you'd feel defensive about it as opposed to the books where you don't feel a connection and are on the defensive.
>>25353363*on the offensive, for the books
>>25353345the thread has been dead long before him
>>25352546Me with The Night Land, Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith (Vol. 4, since 3 I've only been reading Averoigne, Hyperborea, Zothique, and a few others), an Algernon Blackwood collection, and The Way of Kings
>>25353384Jumpscared me with that spoiler. I don't understand how someone can go through with it
Gonna repost my observations from liveship traders. I'm enjoying it, but am about halfway through pic related and I can't think of any other book where i simply hate all the characters.Every female character is a complete slut or goldigger.The male characters consist of a drug addict, a self-righteous moralizer, and an asshole (but not so asshole that he's based).Farseer trilogy was better.
why didn't gandalf just teleport into mordor?
>>25353507I wanna agree with you but "gold digger" and "slut" are pretty shallow criticisms. What if thats the point and you're missing it?
>>25353548Isn’t the point of magic that it’s mysterious and magicians have their ways? Plot holes in LOTR is usually due to the fact magic is neither consistent nor logical.
>>25353548Why did the one ring go from just being a lucky little magic ring that makes you invisible to being the most powerful artifact in the world that Satan himself would trade his left nut just to touch that every black abomination in existence could hone in on as soon as it was put on?Plot convenience. Money.
>>25353554I understand where you're coming from, but personally stuff being "the point" doesn't take away enough of the fact that's it's annoying or frustrating to read. It's apparent there's meant to be an arc, but I'm just waiting for the pay off and hoping it's satisfying enough to make the current frustrations worth it
>>25352305>Only in the sense that you may be offended.Can you elaborate?
>>25352468How was your experience reading it?
>>25352498which book are you on?
Why would Middle Earth use the Gregorian calendar? Wasn’t October from Roman times?
>>25354125You think they are speaking English?
>>25354131Tolkien couldn’t come up with a calendar system based on the Silmarillion instead?
>>25354097The protagonist is a lesbian with two fathers and a mother. There's a lot of Colonialism Bad and Oppression Bad. For more details, read what /sffg/ has written about it here in the archive and on Goodreads.
>>25354144ntaThe purpose was the ease of understanding. Most contemporary books do the same. You might like it, but most are just annoyed when they read a book that has 10 days to week with 36 days per month with 10 months. What is today? Oh it's Regron, the 10th day of the week, 32nd of Serpentoth, it's the Falin season. The year is 187 NC (New Calendar).
>>25353507I found it to be an addictive read, but definitely Hobb should have spent more time in revising it.
Well that was a fucking waste of time.Years ago, a kid, his sister, and their father ended up in a strange valley with dinosaurs, aliens, cavemen and talking robots.The dad died on year 2.Somehow the kid made it out of the valley and spent 30 years trying to find a way back there to save his sister.I hated almost all of it. Unlikable characters (they are supposed to be "smart" but clearly written by someone who isn't, so they're mind-numbingly retarded instead.)Theythem aliens. A preferred-pronoun-respecting future robot.Lots of walking around, but very little happening.A huge "twist" two-thirds into the book, except that any reader with half a brain would have guessed it by chapter 10.Lots of "pop culture" references, with 90% of them being capeshit.It was painful.I'll leave you with a few quotes:>“They’re six-dimensional. That’s what my dad said. And it’s they.”>“They?” echoed Josh.>“Yep. The Castaway was my first experience with nonbinary pronouns. Back in the eighties.”>“Cool.” Parker gave an approving, only slightly ass-kissing nod.>Kyle sighed. “Great. Woke aliens.”>Logan scowled at him. “Dude, seriously?”>Was this a longbow? Longbows needed a lot of strength to pull the string, didn’t they? Not like the high-tech ones with the wheels, like Clint used. More like Kate Bishop’s.>He really had to stop thinking about Hawkeye. It wasn’t going to help. They hadn’t even given him any trick arrows.>“You know who Stephen Hawking was?”>“I’m not an idiot. They mention him in The Avengers.”
I'm looking for first person fantasy with excellent prose. Think Wolfe and Hobb, with a distant third being Ruocchio. Heavily descriptive and ornate styles preferred.
>>25354144The Fellowship leaves Rivendell on Christmas Day, and The Ring is destroyed on the Annunciation Feast
Is there a sequel or a followup to The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson? I really loved how it was written and it was a great tragic story with very enjoyable worldbuilding.
>>25354503No, but he did wrote Hrolf Kraki's Saga, which has very similar style and themes.
>>25354217The mask of the sorcerer (1995)
>>25354101Howling Dark
>>25354664I'll pick this up asap, thanks Anon.
>>25354210That sounds suspiciously like Land Of The Lost.
Damn, Tress might unironically be the best thing Sanderson has written.
Bought both of these yesterday. Which one would you read first?
>>25355154Colour of magic. Skip wyld entirely.
>>25355255Yeah, man, I'll just skip the entire book I just bought. Dipshit alert.
>>25355257Nevermind. A faggot like you will really enjoy it
went into this blind and boy am i tired of seeing the word deliverator 5 times per pagedoes that shit keep up or stop soon?
Sword > Claw > Shadow > Citadel
>>25355367keeps going and it's pretty hilarious. I feel like snow crash is great until they get onto the aircraft carrier, but I haven't read it for a while. I prefer neuromancer but neuromancer takes itself much more seriously
Alright anons I'm on BOOK NINE of Gene Wolfe, about to finish Exodus from the Long Sun. On one hand, the Long Sun series has been interesting trying to figure out what in the FUCK is actually happening. On the other hand, it has been grindingly boring and I'm honestly surprised that I finished four books of "Chenille's heaving breasts," and Silk going from some random priest to a CYBER ASSASSIN. Don't even get me started on the political meanderings of the third and fourth book between Councilor Potto and General Mint, when the reader knew for chapters that none of this shit even mattered. I'm trying to make the decision to pick start the next series since I have already come this far, but after the Book of the Long Sun I'm not sure. I liked the first five books way better
>>25355486cool i support your endeavor bro
>>25352072I've searched for stuff like that and there's nothing
Can someone recommend me some books with extremely intelligent protagonists?
>>25355367Same. I lasted .... Maybe the intro? Fucking tiresome piece.
Fantasy >>>>>>>>>>>> sci-fi
>>25354934Yup, the author mentions how he was "inspired" by it in the afterword.
>>25355367I thought it was fine. It gets pretty cliché by the end.
>>25355677this but the other way around
>>25352072Exodus by Peter Hamilton is for the videogame series of the same name that looks like it's going to be just like Mass Effect since it's made by a lot of the same people.
>>25352072you will read the expanse and like it
>>25355986don't do this, I read the first book and it's shit
A buddy recommended the Black Company and I'm enjoying it quite a lot, the original premise of "what if Sauron and the Ringwraiths actually did stuff actively and carried out assassinations" was pretty fun. Up to pic rel, having also read the Silver Spike, and the one thing that's getting annoying is that nobody can fucking die properly, it's soap opera tier at this point.Am having fun though, would recommend.
>>25352072Berserker series by Fred SaberhagenSchismatrix Consider Phlebas A Fire Upon the DeepAgainst a Dark Background
Anyone here reads Re:Zero? I thought I'd like it more but it feels like such a waste of time reading dozens of pages only for the protagonist to loop back in time.
>>25356181That's why the anime is so much more popular, especially in English.
>>25354157>GoodreadsNot a reliable source because the site is infested with retarded trannies and foids.
>>25354702How far (percentage) are you into the book?
>>25356181Try reading Replay by Ken Grimwood.
>>25356187This general isn't a reliable source. The best you can do is learn how to mitigate problems.
>>25356196What do you mean? He was asking about one of the most popular LNs and this general is nothing but a discussion ground for the most megapopular of literary works within the genre.
>>25356196I trust anons here more than goodreads retards.>>25356201The fuck is an "LN"?
>>25356206Oh I fucked up my quotes. Ignore me.
>>25356206LN means Light Novel, it's a normal novel but with manga-style illustrations.
>>25356217Thanks for the clarification. I read real books.
>>25356221You're such an intellectual, I wish I was like you.
>>25356217I read welcome to the NHK's LN but not the manga, the LN was just like a novel?
>>25356235Welcome to NHK is not a Light Novel, it's just a normal novel that got turned into a manga later on.
This is why it's important for mutual understanding to both know the meaning of a word and there to be consensus about it.
>>25356242ah ok, my mistake then. I thought it was a LN
Is Narnia the best Isekai?
>>25356206The anons here are also on Goodreads. Not all, but certainly a lot. I guess you need a way to filter for anons who are literally nowhere else than here.
>>25356217They're normally shorter in content too (hence the term "light" novel) and illustrations aren't paneled like manga. You get a full page drawing.
I've been facing a huge dilemma recently regarding my fantasy book. Do I make the countries racially homogeneous or multicultural? I feel like the former isn't a very good look in modern society and publisher might avoid me if I go that route, but the latter just feels unnatural for a medieval-fantasy setting. What would you do?
>>25351798That sword looks uncomfortable to hold.
>>25356270Damn I hope this is good bait. Just got an intense spike of rage and hatred reading this.
>>2535618825% i guess
>>25356270We have a world building thread on this board for your questions, this is not the thread for it. Feel free to talk about your book AFTER it's published, we've had other authors shill their work here so you wouldn't be the first.
>>25356248That would Princess of Mars.
Lets see how he handles this. I really don't feel like reading the entire book, so I might quit based on how this is addressed.
I think I've talked about it in the past. But this is probably the absolute worst aspect of the writing, from a thematic depth standpoint. If there is no counter engagement (not that such is sufficient on its own. afterall to communicate what i mean by insufficiency simply. the concept of controlled opposition exists, and there is possibly no other medium more subject to the strawmanning nature inherent to controlled opposition as writing (movies and tv borrow writing from books of course, they can maybe make more striking and stark dishonest representations of people by playing on the superficial biases of people to judge one by their image and look. but theres an argument to be made that writing can evoke an image in a more abstract and therefore "alien" sense)) or no critical (keyword) exploration. Then simply put. The rest of the book, and almost certainly the rest of the entire series is exactly how I described in my initial Howling Dark rants before I took my first break from it.
Also, depending on how the rest of this book goes (assuming with best assumptions in mind that it changes and deepens)Focusing acutely on this single passage, can properly capture my problem with the lack of depth so far with this series.This is a misunderstanding of the Ship of Theseus. People actually do this a lot with many thought experiments. Which is why Philosophy isn't something that can simply be quoted, because people will superimpose their assumptions and preconceptions onto what is being said to twist it into something they can understand, rather than trying to engage with and understand what the philosopher is trying to say.The point of the ship of theseus isnt a conclusion. Its to explore the question of identity. The Ship of Theseus doesnt say "you replace all the planks and now its not the same ship". Infact if anything, for the question to be remotely interesting or meaningful at all, it has to lean more towards the idea that replacing all the parts, wouldnt actually affect whether its viewed as the Ship of Theseus or not. But the only reason to question it, is the human intuition of change and difference resulting in something different. But the question poses that things can be changed on the surface, and still remain the same when looked at holistically nonetheless.The real depth of the question should be entertained when experience crosses with perception. What if there was a quirk of a particular plank, where despite it being one plank amomg many. The sailors associate a noise the plank made, or pattern the plank happened to be engraved with, with the ship. They probably wouldn't consider it the same ship if that plank was strongly associated with the experience with the ship. But then theres the question of, whay if you put the plank on a completely different looking ship than the Theseus one. Does that then become the Ship of Theseus even though it outwardly looks unfamilar, but has the "experiential" evocation of the plank.Then what of people other than the sailors. What of the builders? I doubt the builders of the original ship would care much for the special plank, rather than whether the Ship had the functionalities, and form of the Ship of Theseus. Who's perception of what is important to the ship is more important?These are the type of questions that a philo professor or just a plain philosopher in their book would try to explore and either shut down, or build up. Philosophy is the argument, the process. Not the conclusion, the idea. Anybody can produce an idea.
The fact that Hadrian referenced the Ship of Theseus in such a simple reductive way. Is likely a representation of how the series approaches themes. Which is almost a given by virtue of how much Hadrian, and more importantly, everyone who Hadrian considers important enough to understand and dote on, is the singular focus of the narrative. We saw this in the last book. The chantry are simplistic and cruel because thats all that Hadrian's perspective allows.Heres the thing. I am skeptical that even in the case where an alternative perspective was allowed. It would still be filtered too much through Hadrian's perspective to ever be more than simple.I've talked about "grey morality" and how its rarely ever anything more than "black and white morality" and the possible issue here is similar.If the perspective on the empire or chantry change, what is to say that they actually become more complex, rather than more incorporated into Hadrians simplistic view, one that simplifies them to allow them tk be accepted into his perspective.
>>25356676If Hadrian just dismisses it as "it's still the same ship because I say so," he's missing the entire point of the metaphor regarding the empire or the Chantry. It feels like the author is using a high-concept philosophical hook to justify a very simplistic "chosen one" narrative where the hero's perspective is the only one that matters.It's the same issue you pointed out with the "grey morality" being just "black and white with a grey coat." If the narrative doesn't challenge Hadrian's interpretation of the ship, but instead uses the ship to validate his worldview, then it's not exploring identity at all. It's just confirming the protagonist is right about everything, even philosophy.Are you going to keep reading if this trend continues, or is this the final nail in the coffin for the series? I'm on book 3 and the "deep themes" are already feeling like a facade for standard power fantasy.
>>25356700Almost thought this was AI trolling me for a second. Still not sure it isnt. I mean no offense. I just assume its AI whenever a post placates or repeats me.To get back on topic>I'm on book 3 and the "deep themes" are already feeling like a facade for standard power fantasy.I thought Book 3 is supposed to be the really good one. Like the magnum opus of the series. So if you're not liking Book 3, then the impression of this series I was sold on. Is completely wrong, and instead the initial impression I had of the series (as Shonen in space) when it was first plainly described to me, with people emphasizing the fights, the "riches to rags to riches" progression, and the lose "there are no good guys..." (normies really think this concept is deep for some reason, its just the antihero trend rearing its ugly head, its a red flag for fake grey morality usually). I don't like trusting my instincts because I dislike intuition as a concept, and also because my instincts can be just as wrong as it is right, and so trusting them is arbitrary. But in this case, I'm worried my intuition is right.>It feels like the author is using a high-concept philosophical hook to justify a very simplistic "chosen one" narrative where the hero's perspective is the only one that matters.The problem is that philosophy is one of those subjects that people just dont fundamentally understand its a very weird subject, was browsing /lit/ earlier today, and somebody described something that I think gets close to what makes philosophy weird. Talked about how when you see specific terminology in a cardiology or science book. Nobody bats an eye, but when its philosophy people complain that its being obscure and abstract. If "abstraction" was the problem then mathematics should be dead, but its not. Even though mathematics will sometimes get the "How do I use this in the real world" complaint from 12 to 16 year olds. Its still respected as this "objective" phenomenon.Philosophy simultaneously has this problem of seeming so easy to understand that people will throw around quotes as substantiation of some idea, but will also dismiss philosophical ideas in holistically like "post modernism" even though post modernism isnt a thing. Its a categorization after the fact by people were werent the thinkers that idea is often associated with. The point in the end is that nobody understands what philosophy actually is, I dont even think academic people outside of the field do, based on how some of them talk about the subject. Not that you need to be in the field to understand it, philosophy is just viewed oddly as a value.Because of this people will say that some piece of writing is philosophical because its abstract but not abstract in the way math or psychology, or economics, or sociology, or politcs is. But also simultaneously in the way all of those subjects are because almost all of them either came from philosophy/had prominent philosophers contribute to the subjects.
>>25356700>Are you going to keep reading if this trend continues, or is this the final nail in the coffin for the series?I rambled a bit towards the end, but basically it depends on how good the good parts (if there are any) end up being. At this point I can only realistically judge the good parts, and ignore the bad parts to continue this series. But the good parts now have to meet my standard to be worthwhile, and there needs to be a reason to think that the good parts will be built on and extended to the sequels. Because there is more bad than good as of now.I know this is not specific but I've been specific in the past so I have to simplify it like this to make it more overarching
This is pretty silly and stupid. all that posturing about being complicit in the whatever fictional homunculi slaves the extrasolarians create, was his justification for not giving up his blood. I already flagged that immediately, because you're complicit whether you take action or not, by participating in a society that benefits off such slaves or whatever the fuck they are, the dimensions of world building here are so ill defined that any moral problem that could come from the extrasolarians and the homunculi mean nothing. "what if imaginary bad thing existed, would not think it bad? because i have stripped it of all the complexity of real things you can only think of it bad, is it not interesting how bad, the thing defined as bad is?"But giving up cielcin blood is just as complicit, if not more than had he not paid with credits or whatever. The writing tries to rationalize it with empty platitudes: >But it is always easier to spend what is not yours to give.No its not you stupid fucking retard, the world is not that simple. Infact often is can be harder to spend that which isnt yours because the consequences of doing so are not within your own determination. You'd only spend what isnt yours that you had no reason to think anybody truly owned or cared to not give.>I decided—as youth so often decides—that the ends justified the means . . . that my path was righteous because the place it led was righteous. That calculus has led to darker places than Brevon’s office in human history, and for worse reasons.This is just empty gibberish, if the ends justified the means then giving up your own blood would.There is no principle here. There is no theme here. There is no thought here. Nothing about this interaction is sensible (as in plausible based on an established set of conditions) unless you simplify the world such that you want it to be. And cope that it totally makes sense to give up another's blood to be complicit in the very thing you didnt give up your own blood to be complicit in. This rationale is as rational as racism thinking that different colour of skin actually = difference of character or intelligence. Its difference without distinction. The problem, as I identified in my talk of the ship of theseus is that the human mind is so stupid that it can try and use the intuition that difference at all is meaningful to build a bridge that makes what would be a logical leap, seem like a logical connection.
I won't appeal to logic. But if there is no rational explanation for something internally, OR a predictive explanation (past determines the future clearly can be considered subset of rational) then the explanation is arbitrary and it means nothing. BUT this is a book, we know the plot beats can't not mean nothing, not entirely atleast. So the explanation must be externalized in itself, even if the specifics of the externalized explanation cant be found, the fact that it must be externalized at all is enough:The Author wanted this to happen for whatever reason, by any means necessary = Contrivance.
I wanna get into sci fi.I've read some Star Wars EU books and Starship Troopers. What else should I read?
>>25356937Sun Eater
>>25356931How did you guess? The Cielcin Blood is an immensely important plot device in the future. It's funny reading back and seeing all the crew members treat it as if nothing significant is being given up.
>>25356937What kind of sci fi do you like?
>>25357063He'd like Sun Eater
>>25357063Star Wars EU and Starship Troopers. It's all I've read. Also Kensho. That was neat.
>>25356937DuneHyperionEnder's Game so you can read the greatest SciFi novel of all time, Speaker for the Dead
>Star WarsWhy do you people read tie-in fiction? What the fuck is wrong with you?
>>25357077John Steakley's ArmorThe Forever WarOld man's WarDune The Demon PrincesThe Stainless Steel RatThe Chanur seriesThe Ginger StarRed Rising
>>25357190Armor is dog shit. The second half of the novel has absolutely nothing to do with the first half.
All of a sudden my joy for reading might be dead. It's too sad
>>25357270Goodbye.
>>25357185Star Wars EU is amazing
>>25357277you're just going to let him die?
