Visitors from the Void, A Scientific Discussion, edition>Recommended reading charts (Look here before asking for vague recommendations):https://mega.nz/folder/kj5hWI6J#0cyw0-ZdvZKOJW3fPI6RfQ/folder/4rAmSZxb>Banned Authors:Joe AbercrombieA.A. AttanasioR. Scott BakkerC.J. CherryhGlen CookSteven EriksonJennifer FallonR.A. LaffertyMark LawrenceGeorge R.R. MartinPatrick RothfussGene Wolfe>Archive:https://warosu.org/lit/?task=search2&search_subject=sffg>Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1029811-sffgPrevious:>>25471778
I'm not a good reader, I've read four Lovecraft stories and I've read The Night Land (which I've loved)I want to go back to reading, especially science fiction, and I was wondering, between a few different options, what would be less overwhelming:The Culture Series by I.M BanksFoundation by AsimovHyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons
>>25478244He got people to introduce new and interesting books to the thread aside from the Ringworld retard what is your soul rotting problem?
The Lion's Tusk - Ana and Din Mysteries #2.5 - Robert Jackson Bennett (2026)Ana decides to tell Din a story. He interjects at various points though none of what he said is rendered onto the page. This novelette is entirely from Ana's perspective, which is the frame story. The story takes place around 182 years ago and concerns a marriage between two highly esteemed families. As to be expected, murder and body horror is involved. If you have trypophobia, the disgust/fear of clustered holes, you may wish to exercise caution in reading this. The Lion's Tusk is a decent story, but it's more for the reader who wants literally anything set in this world rather than what Ana and Din do. In terms of world building a horrific insect is introduced, which further fills out the monstrosities that exist. If anything, it goes to show how the people in this setting have exchanged the nightmares of nature for their own self-created ones during the last 1,000 years or so. My guess at what this story means, since Bennett doesn't have any note at the end outright stating what it is this time, is that it's about diseases thought to have been eradicated. There are celebrations about some awful disease no longer in the population, but through a combination of ignorance, malice, recklessness, and other failings it returns to infect again. That's what I took from it anyway.Rating: 3/5
>>25478319Foundation is the easiest to read. In terms of not hitting you with retarded shit before you're invested and probably vocabulary. Hyperion is the most rewarding. Culture is /r/boomercoded
>>25478319Foundation is not good. Either of the others is ok.
Reminder that the new Black Company book comes out on November 3rd.
>>25478319Just curious, why these books?
How do we get rid of pagespammer once and for all?
>>25478481Being psychotic is not good. Repent.
>>25478481Bullying him relentlessly is the only real option.
>>25478481You sound resentful
>>25478481if you would please refer to the facts >>25478359
What are some good sci-fi about super-soldiers? In the mood to read one after playing Marathon (1994).
>>25478359>>25478483>>25478489>>25478492Pagefagger samefagging REALLY hard right now.
When will Omniscience drop? It has been 12 years since Echopraxia. Has Watts joined the like of Martin, Lynch, and Rothfuss?
>>25478439Wtf, he keeps writing more of it?
>>25478571Big words...HOWEVERhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twNlrVVB8rU
>>25478609Yes. It's funny because they continue from exactly where the series ended in 2000. It also incorporates the prequel novel from 2018 into the plot.
Do Bernard Cornwell books belong here or are his books too "real"?
>>25478377your """reviews""" are SHITFUCK OFF
If you could be one character from a sci-fi or fantasy book who would you choose?I'd pick Lazarus Long, since he's immortal, gets to explore the galaxy, and has lots of sex.
>>25478377>>25478674Samefag
>>25478618Cool, however I am not as interested, since I think first couple of books are strongest.
>>25478730Man, I don't think I have ever wanted to be a character from a book.
>>25478661They're not that real. Atleast not real in any substantive way, maybe aesthetically.
>>25478851Is your life really that amazing?
>>25478319Hyperion is pretty accessible. Maybe read it on ebook so you have an easy dictionary, but I don't remember it being difficult. Stop after #2 though.Foundation is trash. It has no redeeming factors and should fade to obscurity - slow story, bad plotting, flat characters, flavorless-yet-wordy prose. Culture is OK, but not a cohesive single story. And are harder to read than Hyperion. Player of Games is one of the GOATs in scifi, but then so is the original Hyperion. Tbh I liked some of Banks' other stuff better, but it's all pretty mindfucky and fairly dense.Go with Hyperion.
>>25478511unironically Hard Contact, or Gears Of War by the same author
lit cyberpunk BTFO by the CHAD cinema
>>25474878>I wish someone not American or Anglo wrote mil-scifi because all American mil scifi reads like /pol/ crossed with /hc/what kind of military SF would you anons want to read? how different is it from what is currently available in English?
>>25478991Is South American military sci fi a thing? Because it absolutely should be.
>>25478981>starts a fight over the definition of cyberpunkwhat a hoothttps://archive.org/details/science-fiction-eye-01-1987-winter/page/43/mode/1up
>>25479024Brin: It seems that what we have here is that none of these people have been sent on a Long March. And it hasn’t come together because they haven’t been in exile for ten years and come back with glory. What happens for this movement to be solidified, it now has to be severely abused and mistreated. The main problem with every revolution in science fiction is that the revolutionaries have come up bitching, moaning, complaining, wearing new clothes...Benford: You should go write your books and I think it’s bullshit that there’s a movement.Shirley: You don’t want to believe there Is because it frightens you. Because you think you’re not competent to handle the new idiom of it.Brin: All right. You insult me by claiming that I am too puerile to understand. 1{’II return the favor by saying that I believe that you are responding to a need to gather the circle of a tribe because you can’t stand on your own.Shirley: Where does this can’t stand on my own stuff come from? jej
>>25478919No but all my fave characters get into shit I wouldn't want to be a part of
>>25478661Eh, I really enjoyed "The Last Kingdom" books...
>>25478403>Foundation is not good>>25478957Foundation is trashplease don't tell me what you enjoy reading, it has to be the absolute worst bottom of the barrel garbage imaginable
>>25478439also a short story collection anon mentioned in the last thread >>25476203
>>25478971>republic commandohold up, they continue from where the game left off?
>>25479192no, Hard Contact continues from where AOTC left off and follows another squad of clone commandosDelta Squad shows up in the next book, Triple Zerothe rest of the series is... controversial, but the 1st book is almost bog-standard military SF other than the Jedithe author is a right-wing pro-guns pro-Army woman who used to be a British Armed Forces reservist and defence journalist, and it shows
what do I think of Dresden Files?
>>25478463 I must have been literally drunk when I first found and typed about this book. I thought it was a world with FLYING ISLANDs but it is actually an OCEAN world where every landmass is an island or island-like object. The book is first person. YOU are Cathan, the son and heir of a outskirts-ish clan leader. Your family/clan has experienced hard times and the book opens with a giant iron(+ other minerals) bed having been found. Cathan accompanies a young religious acolyte as he travels to locate his father at a leader council summit thing, and tell him the good news with some physical samples in hand.Part 2 began after having been attacked out at sea by heretics. Given the title of the book, and the instance early on where Cathan's mom discussed some heretical opinions with him before he left, this was not a surprising turn of events. Cathan is captured and taken to the Archipelago for indoctrination and training, where it is eventually discovered that he is a mage. The Archipelago was wiped during its war against the Domain, whose (((monotheistic))) religious belief system is endorsed through systematic slaughter of anybody who disagrees. The Domain's control is so absolute that they ban the research and study of literal storms, despite every island in the world (except the Archipelago region due to its nature) having massive walls surrounding it as a barricade from any residual nature damage.The training arc took some time and eventually, Cathan (+ two female friends) make it back home where they plan to leave again shortly, as the trio wishes to rid the world of the Domain. However, Cathan's home priest is being replaced with a zealot because of corrupt politics + book plot, and I have a feeling the new Priest is going to fuck up Cathan's home life or parents because of their heresy. And this is only ~halfway through book one of three.I think I'll read something else instead.
>>25479265You can't give up, Yev. You were the chosen one.
>>25478439Why doesn’t he write more Garrett P.I.? It’s been years
>>25479296Ew. I'm not Yev.
>>25479298he probably realized Garrett is lame and cringe
>>25479298Next year.
>>25479298Because he's 82? He used to work a pretty vicious pace. Garrett was like the book to work on between other books.
>>25479321bruh>three black company novels left to release + short story collection>new Garrett pi novel comingauthors HALF his age can't keep the pace with cook
>>25479320You made my day, anon. Thanks.
>>25478439So which cover?
>>25478571>actually see an ayy in one of the 'newer' Sunflower storiesayyyyyyyyyyyyy bout time
>>25479296>>25479302We're all a little but Yev sometimes.
>>25479298>Garrett P.I. Shill it to me, please.
are The Dresden Files good?
>>25479484No.
>>25479484Yes.
>>25479460It's good if you really like Glen Cook.
more like Glen Poop lol
>>25479548But I've never read the man before.
>>25479484No. Jim Butcher is a monumental closet case and it makes Harry Dresden painful to follow. He makes Dungeon Crawler Carl look like a paragon of dominant heterosexuality.
>>25479566Start with Black Company
>>25479567>Jim Butcher is a monumental closet caseelaborate on that
>>25479570I don't care about Black Company. It's that Garrett bloke that sounds interesting.
>>25479571It comes through in Harry never being interested in money or sex despite being supposedly one of the top 3 living battle mages, or similar level of rarity. The only woman he talks with is his fairy godmother and his LI for like 6 books is this untouchable madonna police detective. And he goes to great pains to remind you how insanely hot his vampire half-brother is.Contrast with actual straight wizards like Rhialto or Ged.
>>25479572Start with Old Tin Sorrows then.
>>25478730>has lots of sex with his mom
>>25479034>You don’t want to believe there Is because it frightens you. Because you think you’re not competent to handle the new idiom of it.He's right. Brin is a hack.
>>25479024That goes to show how more willing to talk to each other people were and be honest with each other. It'd be lot different now, thoughy this isn't really all that different than social media. This was before there was a relatively consolidated perspective on Cyberpunk. It's interesting to see which won out. It's funny/sad that many of the general arguments are still relevant and ongoing today.
>>25479327He's not writing about any bloody lemon cakes and runs a tight shift.
>>25479460 noir private investigator in a fantasy setting. Takes a lot of inspiration from Raymond Chandler and Rex Stout. The fantasy world is well developed and thought out. I like this series better than black company
>>25479034Spicy take.
>>25478439>>25479320Can we just appreciate that Glen Cook is 82 and he's still putting out books regularly while George RR Martin has only wrote a single book in the last decade (Fire and Blood in 2018).
>>25479759There are at least a few others that do the same at the same or similar age.
>>25478730Hetan from Malazan. Specifically her in Dust of Dreams.
Dinosaurs are cool. There should be more dinosaur stories.
>>25479776Dinotopia
>>25479776Tamer
>>25479759John Norman is 95 and still goons for the typewriter at least 3 hours a day.
>>25479776Dinosaur stories are lame. You could replace them with any other creature and the story would be improved greatly.
>>25479881>I don't like x, so it should be y.Your feelings have been noted.
explore the ringworld with your long phallic spaceship
>>25479759>while George RR Martin has only wrote a single book in the last decade (Fire and Blood in 2018).At this point, GRRM is based because he's making millions of dollars doing *nothing* and causing widespread butthurt.
>>25479759I honestly think it's better if he just dies and someone gets permission to take his spot. The story is probably irredeemable because he wrote himself into a maze so let's just get this over with like the son of the dune writer did ruining his last story
>>25479926Nah he came out talking mad shit and had to get some B-list TV writers to finish his story for him. That's bitchmade.
How is he so good? I'm on Demon Princes 3 and im always very impressed by the flow of his writing. the characters interact with each other so smoothly, he conveys a lot of action and dialogue in such precise language
>>25479776>turning 70 soon>300+ published stories>still goinghttps://isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?199Bow to the Emperor.
>>25479947>talked shit>B-list TV writers finished the work for himOK so he did nothing and *still* got paid.>That's bitchmadeThat's actually based.
>>25480009Doing nothing IS basehead behavior. Thanks for agreeing. :)
My feelings are better than your feelings!
>>25480018Indeed, it is based. I accept your concession.
>>25480021Yep. Basehead behavior. :)
>>25479975He had good vocabulary and grammar skills for a genre fiction writer.
>>25479265I decided to start my reread of the Death Gate Cycle.HAPLO AND THE DOG.
just took a massive shit, the small reminded me of R. Scott Bakker
>>25480093Go for it, you're the best reviewer here!
>>25480103Nobody cares about your obscure author. GRRM is the most influential author and writes the most memorable shitting scenes.
>>25480105>haven't posted a review since May or JuneGawrsh...
>>25480124Quality over quantity!
>>25478124>R.A. LaffertyWhy?
I dont knoe what it is about gods in fantasy stories I find interesting, but the first sign of interest for me in Hythrun Chronicles is when one of the characters interacts with a god.This happened too for me in Dandelion Dynasty but that one disappointed me very quickly, it doesn't help that the historical basis of its story, is Liu Bang: Possibly one of the most ridiculous and plot armoured people to ever rule a land. But im taxing you on that, if you couldnt make that more interesting or complicated (in the first book, inb4 some retard says "IT GETS BETTER IN THE NEXT THOUSAND PAGE BOOK!" then I'm just not that interested.
>>25480196It will end the same, Sisyphus.
My Ns. I have been reading the Way of Kings leatherbound. It’s my first premium book. It feels good to read <3
>>25480212the biggest grossing kickstarter of all timego mormonism!
>>25479975What's impressive to me is how his dialogue is always in this strange overly formal style with lots of archaic words sprinkled in, yet somehow it feels totally natural and believable.
>>25480171He's a joke.
I am eating a bowl of fried rice with vegetables and diced chicken before bed.
>>25480258Congrats
>>25479608>never being interestedidiot>>25479484they're decently fun slop past the first 3 or 4 books
>>25480103>burnt lamb and honey
>>25479336I don't think the Voroshk girls are supposed to be drow, but I like this one more.
>>25480264Anon that's beard level interest. A real battle mage has a wife and a mistress or a faerie harem or spends too much time leveling up to think about sex. He doesn't waste time not making money playing detective and hanging out with faggot highschool kids while claiming to be pursuing adult relationships. That's the hallmark of a seriously disturbed homosexual.
>>25479776West of Eden
Are the Witcher books actually any good or were people just really going on about the games? Which I've never played.
>>25480468pretty sure its considered notoriously whelming by serious fantasy readers
>>25480470I'm really just looking for something to scratch the Solomon Kane itch.
>>25480474You may like the Jerusalem Man series.
>>25480523>Jerusalem ManOh. That's a real title. It sounded like you were being glib. I like Gemmel. Thanks for the heads up.
What do you guys think of Warhammer books? I'm currently reading Gotrek & Felix (at book 4 right now) and I'm quite enjoying it.I read Headtaker and it felt somewhat frustrating to read, I won't say it's bad but I wanted something better from it. But I suppose the inconsistent quality of Black Library books is natural considering how many authors and serieses they got.
>>25480544I don't read media tie-in slop
>>25480544I want to read the ones by Ian Watson.
>>25480544I don't know enough about warhammer lore of it's setting but it's it just every one angry all the time
>>25480562>every one angry all the timeYou mean like fans of anything?
>>25480562You would be angry all the times if there were goat headed barbarians raiding your village every other day
>>25480523>>25480527Jerusalem Man is very good series.
>>25480468They were great when they were just short stories. When it became a series of novel the quality tanked a bit, but it was still decent IMO.
>>25479862That bdsm fan is keeping his women readers happy even in a ripe old age of decrepitude. >>25479778I only seen the movie. Are books good?>>25480468I remember liking collection of short stories, while main series not as much, but that was decade and a half ago...>>25480608There are worse things in that setting... Demon forced to shoot canon balls out of his ass can attest to that.
>>25480468The two books of stories are definitely worth a shot I'd say
>>25480468like others said witcher is decent when it's about slavic folklore adapted into fantasy adventures. when it actually gets into story with ciri it's just not very good. english translation is also pretty dry.
I just made the mistake of going on reddit and reading someone trashing neuromancer because he couldn't "parse the setting in the first 10 pages," and couldn't tell if it was a fantasy book or on the moon. Am I losing my mind here? I thought the book straightforward, but I have read it a few times...
>>25481068>page 7>...and Tokyo Bay was a black expanse where gulls wheeled above drifting shoals of white styrofoam.And there's an earlier reference to "across the Pacific"Ignore xer, xhe's just a retard
>>25480093I am reading the bestest book of the whole entire threadly thread.
where can I find old issues of Locus magazine?
>>25481130I don't know and it's surprising because Locus has an annual sale that really includes a lot. Maybe it's because it's an industry magazine. It isn't included in any of the sff magazine collections that include 100s of magazine series.
>>25481130>>25481136To clarify, I mean an overall collection. Various individual issues can be found all over the place in the usual locations, such as the Internet Archive.
>>25480544I liked William King's Tyrion and Teclis books when I was younger. They're slop but I love how arrogant and prideful the High Elves are.
>>25481166Why does this guy's Skyrim character look like he came off a hard night at the gay club?#manscaped
>>25481151yeah, in the Internet Archive there are two issuesit's surprising because others like Interzone have over 200 numbers
>>25481173CHEST HAIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
>>25481204I like this, reminds me of 3d porn stuff from deviantart and other places.
>>25480317I will never understand haremshit fans
>>25481068Idk the prose can be a bit divisive. I have a friend who reads a fuckton more than I do but it didn't click for him at all. Personally I like Gibson's prose a lot, Neuromancer as a book not so much
>>25481204I like how he made an armband for Lydia out of his JO crystal. That probably gives her +50 one arm damage.
>>25481209It's just a 3D render. Older cover for comparison. The covers with a scene instead of a character are visually changed the least lol
so predictable that kellhus would turn out to be a buttfuckercanadian author spotted
>>25481323He is a prince, a Prince of Nothing!!!!!
>>25481349More like a Prince of Shit *smirks*
>>25481424hehe
Did Conan ever rape?
I've noticed a pattern with female authors where if she is attractive (or was attractive when young) then her book will be decent but if she's ugly then her book is always cringe
>>25481463Nah he's a simp. The only time he attempted a rape was the frost giant's daughter but he got cucked by magic.
>>25481474holy cuck!!!!
Hythrun Chronicles is really not particularly good so far. Very Soap Opera-y has that classic stupid whiny young teenager retard character in Marla, and those are literally never ever well done. Their arc is either incredibly contrived so that the audience is satisfied by the contrast of their growth, or its contrived to validate them through plot convenience at every whim. And its never real. You never get the sense of a character as a person, as somebody with some sense of interiority, the insecurities are always abstracted in some odd way, always dramatized to the point of seeming forced, fickle and not based in anything, often thats because the soap opera quickly needs to move to the transition phase of growth. So they will overdramatize certain feelings, so that it feels "real" by virtue of its emphasis, so that even though its shallow due to its baseless and fickle nature, it doesnt "feel" like such, and thats all a shitty soap opera needs from its retarded audience. It needs them to feel something for their character, so that they get attached before moving on, the character then becomes a representation to project ones feelings onto. Not a person to be understood and engaged with. Its like the difference between sympathy and empathy. One is actually understanding somebody's feelings and circumstances, the other is simply feeling one way or another about somebody's feelings. The former is deeper, but requires more work, effort, and experience to understand. The latter is shallower, but easier to generate, easier to interface with, and far more arbitrary.
>>25481551Fuck off. Nobody cares.
>as somebody with some sense of interioritySaid the single most un-self-aware individual ever born
>>25481571Funny, innit?
Murderbot is fun slop but it should really be "protectorbot"
>>25481551You're the only retard on this entire website that I actually despise.
>>25481551Unfortunately this is a banned author.
>>25481595You know no one reads the OP or cares, right?
>>25481578I prefer the Apple TV series because the level of woman / queer / hippie fatigue he experiences really comes through in the visual medium.
>>25481595Kek wtf, when was she added? She's barely known, she disappeared from the writing world basically
>>25481551Drop it. Move on. You have many more books to be disappointed by.
>>25480468Read "The Last Wish" and "Sword of Destiny", that's it.
Super good ebay bundle. Already have the same BOTNS though.
>banned authorsWtf are we doing man
>Banned Users:>pagespammerThere. I've saved /sffg/. You're welcome.
>>25481653Nice haul. What's the story on In Yana? Not familiar with that one.
>>25481653I heard Sandkings was pretty good.
>>25481068These people need wiki and shit open when reading anything more complex than a picture book.
>>25481682It’s the one im least familiar with, apparently it’s also a dying earth setting.
>>25481643>Drop it. Move on.I'm thinking about it. There really arent many people online with good articulation that suggests any understanding of depth to really vouch for the book. Let alone people online at all to talk about the book for more than one sentence.I should have treated that as a red flag, especially when my research led me to some weird AI chatbot site where multiple chatbots were glazing the writing as deep and complex. I might give it till page 300
>>25479265>YOU areRetard, that's not how first-person works. You're not supposed to be self-inserting into the protagonist.
>>25481785Wow, rude. Apologize to the greatest reviewer this general has ever had and one of the greatest posters ever.
I'm not sure I can make it to 300 pages. Ill reduce it to 270
>>25481657Just ignore it, OP has no authority.
>>25481796Wrong. You must worship and obey the OP. THEY are what allows /sffg/ to exist.
>>25481785I never read his reviews.>The book is first person. YOU are CathanJesus fucking Christ, what a mongoloid. I don't understand how some people manage to go through life like this.
>>25481795I have warned you multiple times now against taking rando recommendations. If you insist on reading serial sff, you really need to stick to the big-name classics. There is simply too much trash out there, and too many autists who will gleefully recommend said trash. You have nobody to blame but yourself at this point.
>>25481803>THEY*she
>>25481809Sorry kween, I meant no disrespect.
>>25481807This. Only GRRM and Rowling are worth reading. If they're not #1 then don't waste your time.
No need to worry about me guys. Reading this book has made me depressed. I will likely kill myself soon enough, so stop telling me and wishing me to die. Just be patient it is annoying being told to die or go away when you are trying to put it off till the right time
>>25481819
Prove that pagespammer and Yev aren't the only people who read books in the genny: Post a review of the last book you read. And do it RIGHT NOW.
>>25481835They never have been.
>>25481835I read the Odyssey. It was much better than the Iliad, let me tell you.The last book was somewhat heartwarming, with Laertes, Odysseus and Telemachus all standing side by side.
>>25481835Read this and genuflect.>>25479265>>25479975>>25480544
made it to page 288, I can do one more chapter. i can do it
Managed to make it to page 310. Thats about 220 pages for the mass market paperback version and 180 pages for the standard paperback. Is that enough read to dismiss a book? I don't know. All I know is that the books which triggered red flags which I kept on reading, almost rarely surprised, instead they often gave more to be disappointed by, or simply cemented the disappointment.
>>25481785It was a statement made in jest. There has been some recent controversy over at /wng/ regarding normalfags and first-person stories. They get turned off because they believe they HAVE to self-insert.
>>25480468The first book that is just short stories is good. The mainline series keeps getting worse and worse as it goes on. The games are overrated too.
>>25481606>apple tv>less pro-faggotry than any other mediumI'm skeptical.
I've been buying old copies of Analog magazine, but I'm trying to limit myself to only buying a new one after I've finished the one I've just bought.This is primarily an excuse to visit the bookstore and talk to the cute girl there.
>>25482052The book is already full of mud people doing gay shit, so it's pretty much a scene for scene adaptation. Like Game of Thrones season 2 level tampering.
These threads are useless when they're not actively convincing me that genre fiction is worth reading.
>>25482307It never was and never will be.
>>25482307>>25482310BTW I prefer homosexual romance scenes in my nonfiction if it matters
wanking to Brandon Sanderson
>>25482317You would be wise to join my gang.
If at least three people reply to this post with the>last book you read>current book you are reading>next book you plan to readThen I will make a physical pyramid out of the Death Gate Cycle books when I wake up.
>LastPerelandra>CurrentKing of Elfland's Daughter>NextThat Hideous Strength
>>25478446Just things that ended up catching my eye along the time I've been lurking the internet, or talking to people who read irl I suppose>>25478402>>25478403>>25478957Thanks anons, I'll take these into considerationWould you be willing to elaborate on why do you thing Foundation is good/bad from your points of view?
>>25482409Asmiov can't write novels. Having no emotion, paper-thin characters, and barely functional style can be okay in short stories, but after a certain word count you need more than ideas to carry a narrative.
>>25478124Do you ever randomly just pick a book to read anymore? I swear it's like everyone just "give me the best X" which severely limits what you get to read.
>>25482411>Having no emotion, paper-thin charactersI think that's a lot of golden era SF, though. It was all about ideas and technology mostly written by engineers and professors. Entire approach was to use characters as mouthpieces for those explorations.
>>25482411To expound a bit more, Foundation is not unreadable; he does try to address his flaws, but it's clear he's not writing to his strengths and your time is better spent elsewhere.
>>25482398Previous>Storm of SwordsCurrent>A Dance With Dragons Next>undecided
>>25482419You skipping A Feast for Crows, bro?
>>25482424No I just forgot about itI did read that after StormIts all a reread anyway
eating a proper cultivator's meal of fried rice, cabbage, peas, chickenbefore getting back into reading death gate #1 for the night32% into book one, STILL do not have a perspective of the main character which is a neat thing you never see anymorecurrently, the Gegs (dwarves) have found a god (Haplo) + his dog and are trying to covertly escort him to safety.if i ever get around to writing my Book, a name revelation is something i always planned toward the end of book 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oofzVU3PfIg&t=6m59sThis is exactly why picrel is retarded. And was really the final straw I had to sort out. I always get frustrated ending a book before finishing it, because I can never quite pin what is wrong. There are these little subtle things that trigger a frown in my mind, but because of principles of writing that I won't elaborate on right now, you have to take a lot on good faith. But this is why you always look deeper, always think counter, not to disprove something, but to fill in gaps by exploring a different dimension through what an opposition might say/thinkWell the point really is that this is both a contrivance and something that betrays an understanding of what it implies an understanding of (can confirm this not simply by virtue of what the character who says it thinks, but how everybody else, who presumably should be more educated on this stuff reacts. By The Way this is a literal anime plot mechanic where the protagonist inexplicably does something that impresses professionals and more experienced characters, bc anime loves to emphasize an arbitrary innate talent/ability through distinction and characters being surprised. But all it does is undermine the legitimacy of their standing, but this is why I say this specific stuff is so hard to criticize, because its so easy for retards to try and counter "what! are you saying somebody cant just accidentally, randomly, distinctly come to a conclusion or create something that nobody else thought of?!" appealing to the vague intuition that such is possible. But thats just what stupid people say, which is why the standard of giving depth through exploration is important)This video is proof that what Marla said about needinga child heir, is complete nonsense, I am actually astonished I so conveniently found an exact historical analog to why what shes saying actually makes no sense if you're familar with a bit of history.Now one might say "She's technically still right even in that video they needed a heir to depose in the first place" but watch later in the video, a child emperor is one of the most unstable things ever. Its one of the stated reasons the army preferred Zhao Kuangyin. And even later in this video, you can see by virtue of the fact that the next emperor is the brother, again, because of that child emperor problem, that a heir is not necessary, infact for most of the people in power its not preferable, so why would having an heir at all be preferable to not having one, if we assume for the sake of charitability, that both would ultimately yield instability? It makes no sense, an usurper will usurp, whether theres a child heir or a lord without a heir.I bet theres going to be some retard who knows a historical example where what Marla said, makes sense. But if thats the case, its your burden of proof, as a writer, to add the additional depth and context that would make that make sense, even if youre "right" it wouldn't be true.
>>25482448what reader are you using?
>>25482448I looked up this reading format but all the results were How to Suck Dick for Dummies.
>>25482448>I bet theres going to be some retard who knows a historical example where what Marla said, makes sense.Also based on my light research, European history is just completely retarded compared to Chinese History. Chinese History aside from Liu Bang generally makes sense how Emperors rise and fall. European history is influenced heavily by retarded shit like Christianity. The pope has way too much power, the nobles have way too much power, feudalism seems way more oppresive, and Europe in general is just completely backwards for most of the middle ages. It also seems like the title of king was largely superficial. Also they could barely summon armies, so they lacked a lot of the complexity china had in generals largely being the ones to form new dynasties of rule.I dont mean to sound like a chud here, but theres like one single female emperor in all chinese dynastic history, and theres a bunch for Europe. This cluld actually be interesting when I do a deeper dive on Europe, but the reason this doesnt seem to work in Middle China based on my research, is for similar reasons to why Child Emperors almost never work: They can never garner the respect of an army, because they can't fight alongside them and earn their loyalty that way. Even emperors who stop fighting, usually have their accomplishments immortalized in history.For Europe to not care about this, they would basically have to brainwash the army (and the people since the army comes from the people) into worshipping them inspite of their ability to fight, which would explain why there are so many fat kings in European history. And the only thing I can think of that would accomplish such effective brainwashing is Christianity. The problem here is, China had religion too, Confucianism (which is more philosophy than religion) and Buddhism and Taoism had great influence. But it doesnt seem to have been like Christianity's influence. I mean the fucking pope, a religious figure was basically summoning commoner armies for the crusade, what the fuck??? Europe is so retarded.
Also I forgot to explain the other aspect of why that writing is bad besides being shallow:If you write a character saying something that doesnt make sense, and gets no pushback, or is shallow, but every character responds to and praises that character as if they said something profound, then you are now writing an artificial reality (yes I know fiction is already artificial, its not actually supposed to be seem explicitly like that unless youre doing shitty satire or comedy where the standards are lower because getting some retard to laugh is as easy as saying "6, 7!" over and over again) where nothing actually matters because it can be whatever the authors bias decides.This entire page really just exists to confirm the shitty point Eleazar made some pages earlier that Marla is actually totally super smart, and not a retarded ditzy! 2000 drama teenage girl!Its just that forced stupid anime bullshit I talked about where the protagonist can be retarded and lazy for like an entire season, and then spontaneously do something exceptional, that impresses all the experienced professionals, because anime wants you to know so badly that nothing matters whatsoever, that anybody can be special, inspite of being lazy and stupid if there are no requirements for being special other than roll of dice genetics, or simply acting like a main character (I want to say this is where main character syndrome comes from but people will make fun of me for talking about anime too much) Watch "Naruto the self made hypocrite" to sort of get an idea of what I mean.I already touched on the other element of this that destroys the story in undermining the idea of professionals and experienced people that cant even produce a thought or comprehend an ability that the retarded main character who just started exploring these powers or knowledge last week could.
>>25482451Kindle KOreader. I plan on maybe changing up some stuff soon with some patches. I need a way to change from chapter to chapter seamlessly. Currently the base KOreader way is sort of clunky
>>25482464Cool, I've been thinking about getting a kindle for myselfWhat model do you have? One of the older ones, since you could jailbreak it?
>>25482409None of those are exactly my favorites to be clear. Foundation is pretty good for golden age, which is worst age, because it largely reads like a history book and Asimov does a good job using characters he understands to do the speaking. Asimov's greatest strength here is communicating with the reader without coming off like a pretentious twat or an idiot. Which Banks and Simmons fail at.Simmons has higher highs though. The first two Hyperion books are easily the most worthwhile if you make it through them, but you have to deal with his bullshit.
>>25482465You can jailbreak the newer ones too just have to make sure they dont automatically update past the base software version.I cant tell you my generation for fear of the people who want to kill me doing something with that, but its new enough to not be old, but old enough to still be easy to jailbreak
>>25482463Are unable to compare to anything other than anime, and almost only Naruto at that?
>>25482501he's retarded and traumatized by anime
>>25478124If philosophers start with greeks, with whom do fantasyfags start?
Should I?Is that or maybe Malazan. Currently reading Burroughs (William S) but it's all a bit gay cut up bum soap at the moment.Need a series I can get into.
>>25482525Certainly more enjoyable than Malazan, but I can't in good faith recommend either
>>25481835I feel like you need to be actually educated in a proper, literature related field, or at least proper journalism to give a decent review on written word. Otherwise your takes are gonna be glaringly superficial.
>>25482525Malazan has like, close to 20 books now I think, so if you get into that, it's quite a commitment.
>>25482537>Otherwise your takes are gonna be glaringly superficial.pagespammers critiques are better than some papers I've seen in university english lit classes just not as strictly grammatical
>>25482537I studied English lit back in the day and after, predictably, only finding employment in blue collar work for years I can't write a proper review no mo. I used to be pretty good at them
>>25482521Volsung saga
>>25482525Reading the blurb already unsold that one to me
>>25482398>lastThe Umbrella Conspiracy>currentCaliban Cove>nextprobably something else, the RE novels are half-decent enjoyable slop but I'm already exhausted, especially with the Rebecca obsession by the author
Six of Crows
>grishaverse
>>25482616Another Lies of Locke Lamora sloplike?
>>25482619Six of Crows has been several times more commercially than Lies of Locke Lamora. It has over a million ratings on Goodreads.
>>25482619>>25482623It's BookTokslop.
>>25482623goddamn all this shit sounds like garbageive seen normies say lies of locke lamora is the best book theyve ever readi cant imagine what they say about this slop
>>25482545You can read the core ten books and nothing else.
>>25482457Your first paragraph is very stupid and homogenises Europe. Reminder that whatever happened in England was completely different from what happened in the Eastern Roman Empire and the Middle Ages and Christianisation were unequal from ”state” to ”state”, not to mention that the period itself lasts for about 1000 years with plenty of things happening in way too many areas to name.Middle Ages Europe =/= Hollywood dirty grey movies and those three anachronic kingdoms you keep hearing about.
>>25482655don't respond to bait
>>25482398>Royal Assassin>The Last Contract of Isako>Assassin’s Quest
>>25481130>sci fi magazines used to have long gossip columns about the lives of your favorite nerdslmao Joe and Gay Haldeman
Started Against All Gods. The concepts are cool but the writing is poor-to-terrible - unclear syntax, author losing track of minor details, and garbage like "his long-dead enemies would remember, except none of them survived him". Does it get better, or is the plot at least worth powering through? Or should I just DNF it and move on?
>>25482416Foundation is a fix-up. Not a novel.Asimov's best novels:The Caves of SteelThe Naked SunThe Currents of SpaceThe End of Eternity==Power Gap==The Gods Themselves (essentially a fix-up of original stories so it gets ranked lower)Nightfall (The short story might've been better I can't remember)The Stars, Like Dust
>>25483000>The Caves of Steelseconded
>>25483000>The Naked SunIs that the one about the planet of turbo hikki autists deadly afraid of touching another person?
>>25482983>naming your child Freya
>>25483069You uncultured swine.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freyja
>>25482615I read those a couple months back. They were surprisingly competent, especially those two original novels. And Rebecca being the self-insert was amusing.I grew tired of that----THEN THERE WAS AN ACTION SCENE AND----you knew immediately when something was going to happen----prose structure
>>25482992I'm bumping you for asking something interesting about a book being read
>>25483063yep, the planet of enochlophobesand not reproducingand not caring about nudity because "it's only viewing" (through webcam) despite being unable to even be in the same room as people let alone see them naked
>>25483094Are you retarded? Do you think I dont know where Freya comes from? Dont insult me with your retardation, dipshit.
Had a nightmare that Brandon Sanderson was chosen to write A Dream of Spring after GRRM’s death and he wrote a hard magic system and a sanderlanch into ASOIAF
>>25482398>lastSister Svanger and the Devil You Know - enjoyed it but less than the first. Parker is always a quick, fun read but more than a couple in a row and I get burnt out. >currentAgainst All Gods. I'm the anon above, it's merely OK so far. Recommended in a lot of places, so maybe I should have known better. >NextProbably Platform Decay. Luv me some murderbotslop
>>25483209It's certainly possible. Can't be any worse than letting D&D write the ending.The series is over. Treat it as a trilogy with two shitty epilogue books that should be skipped, and move on.
>>25483234Why would Dungeons and Dragons finish it?
>>25482398>Blood and Bone>Lightbringer>Aquila
>>25482398Poet Empress (it was shit)SabrielThe Darkness That Comes Before
>>25483318>Poet Empress (it was shit)Hm
>Planescape Torment is /lit/core>no official novelization>there's an unofficial one by Rhyss Hess that reads like a very dry speedrun>said unofficial novelization was then edited by some Twitch diddler who just added purple prose to itThere is no God.
>>25483250Retard. The dudes in charge of the HBO show.
>>25483336You fell for anon's elaborate jest.
>>25483334I've read the one by Rhys and it was basically a copypaste of the in-game dialogue, along with some extra prose for shit like traveling to another map, little things like that. It's fairly faithful and I enjoyed it.
>>25483353That't the "dry speerun" I described, yeah.But maybe I'm just salty because the man spent only 2min in the Mortuary when it took me ages to get out. I even had to larp as a corpse.
idk what i thought i was reading but i didn't expect gay sex musings and one-liners every 3 pages, never mind the detailed sex. very hard to read. glossed over some parts. even the female character has recurring gay sex thoughts.the set main, morally and intellectual correct characters are constantly whiny, childish, and read like the same person almost. prose was ok. dialogue pretty poor because of the above. all very samey and petulant without much actual conversation or communication, that is the ebb and flow of it, the subtleties, the intelligence. not actually that dark despite the whining. i thought the immoral city youths characterisations almost good. not against the themes even if it's not my cup of tea, could've been cool. way better than the last shit i read (most of tom lloyd's twilight reign series), but the author doesn't seem especially intelligent. the dwenda were so lacklustre they were almost interesting because they're fantastical/alien then the motives and mundane deaths ruined it.what should i read guys? should i continue the series or start something else?
>>25483336You got baited
>>25483371I read the Devils and it was almost funny how it tried to be this dark and heavy setting, with super screwed up cast, but only goes as far as some guts getting spilled here and there and some weak bants. Is this what grimdark is about?
>>25483336Typical grrm fan kek
>>25483371Grow up. Gay people exist. Gay sex happens. They stick their penises in each others' anuses and suck each others' poopy bloody weiners. It exists in real life and it will exist in your fiction.
>>25483396>grow up and take dick in your assYou trying to out-embarrass the GRRMfag?
>>25483402Why would he be embarrassed of you being ignorantDo you think every "D" in the world is short for dungeons or dragons?
>>25483396in this book, sex in some form as motivation as well as a funny quip happens far too frequently to be called natural or reflective of the real world. barely anything else seems to come to mind for the author apart from the main character's unimaginative haughty moral righteousness (mostly not even that) or the religious characters' evil and fanatic moral righteousness, which is obviously prefigured as shallow and unprincipled, hated even by their fellows, and driven more by overactive young men (wow author). sex even deceives an immortal elf spirit thing, ruins his grand evil plan and gets him and his followers killed.
>>25483393The Devils isn't grimdark
>>25482398>last book you readWolfbane>current book you are readingOmnibus>next book you plan to readRogue Moon
>>25482398>>current book you are readingI had to sign a NDA to read it.
>>25483371>without much actual conversation or communicationthat would be Richard Morgan alrighthe tries, and the world of Altered Carbon gives him plenty of material to work with, especially Woken Furies, but his characters still end up sounding shallow and 2D cardboard
>>25483334>>no official novelizationThere is one, though. It's not recommended as it re-purposes the existing script.
>>25483396do not confuse tolerance with acceptance, anon.
>>2548254520 books and 0 interesting characters.
>>25483474What's a good example of it then?
>>25482398The Sleeping SorceressThe Bane of the Black SwordStormbringer
>>25483616Yev...
>>25483630You're 100% talking about Hess' unofficial novelisation, which is based on the original script.
>>25483646Cook, or Abercrombie's First Law
Its possible that if crown of stars doesnt work out, ill have no choice but to read the first law trilogy as not only is it considered character driven (of which somehow novels may be the first storytelling genre for me to start believing that good character writing/focus is mandatory, and not merely realistic and full seeming characters) theres also the bonus fact that unlike all these shitty 7 book series, first law is just 3. The question left is, if crown of stars disappoints, whether I save engineer trilogy as the last defense because I trust its quality the most or if I read it before first law.
>Sanderson's First Lawvs.>Abercrombie's First Law
>>25483667Which Cook? I don't remember Black Company being that dark. Have to try First Law some day.
Is this the only good superhero novel?
>>25483713What's so good about this one?
>>25483671Abercrombie clears
>>25483734It's just a well-written novel. Grossman isn't Gene Wolfe or anything but he's good. One thing in particular that I like is that the Superman pastiche is only shown briefly at the end of the novel, but many different characters throughout the book have stong opinions about what he is like as a person, with some people thinking he is a good guy and others thinking that he is a thug. Another thing I like is that certain important plot details are revealed to readers but the characters themselves do not understand them, causing the protagonists to not have a complete picture even by the end of the novel.
>>25483713Worm if webnovels count.
>>25483713The Batman No Man's Land novel is pretty alright. Rucka's a solid cape writer. The audio play version was very nice.
>>25483762Thanks.
>>25483713sounds interesting, ive always loved the concept and idea of superhero stories but made to actually address the implications of that. i know watchmen is considered like that too, but I didnt particularly find it to be an interesting rumination on the concept of a superhero, just more "real" but not really addressing the super hero aspect, its like if a somewhat "real", "gritty" story had the superhero aesthetic slapped on
anybody read anything good lately? loading up my ereader today
>>25483815Yes, but you wouldn't like any of it.
>>25483762Hey I've read that one. Imagine not blasting the Joker right between the eyes at the end. Couldn't be me.
>>25483777You might enjoy Brubaker's Kill or Be Killed. What if a late-20-something with mental issues tried to be the Punisher for real?I enjoyed it.
>>25483903You know I get why Batman doesn't kill. I never subscribed to that argument. But it sure is strange how nobody else saw that the Joker had a little accident. Like there's gotta be some AU somewhere where a fed up cop just let's him have it. They would protect the fuck out of his ass.
>>25482398>Roadside Picnic>Battle Royale (Koushun Takami)>No fucking idea. you know any good ones?
>>25482398>>last book you readSavage Tales of Solomon Kane >>current book you are readingDragons of Spring Dawning>>next book you plan to readI dunno. I want to get more into the Rogue Squadron series, so maybe the second volume of that.
>>25482398>Last bookPindharee. Made no sense to be. Reminded me of Marrow in its disjointed style and big concepts. Marrowfag, you mightlike this one.>current bookBest of Isaac Asimov. "C-Chute" is possibly the scariest story I've ever read.>Next bookI'm packing all my books now, so I'll probably be reading short stories from my old Analog magazines that I'm now addicted to buying. They are great.
>>25483998>Analog magazinesGood luck with the cute cashier, btw.
I might change my Bookends, even though the one I'm using is so solid, I'm getting bored of it.
>>25482525the audiobooks are kinda like listening to Mass Effect fanfiction, Ghost from COD voices them. It hits a good stride end of book 2 til end of book 5
>>25482398>The Way of Kings>The Hobbit (book club) and Words of Radiance (very, very slowly. Might come back later because I'm interested, but my priorities are shifting)>either Laurus or Out of the Silent Planet
>>25483396Tolerance is not acceptance. Keep your faggotry in your bedroom.
>>25483371>gay sex musings and one-liners every 3 pagesThat's a drop.
>>25483234>trilogyYou can't end it on ASOS. That's retarded.
>>25483209Once the fat man dies ASOIAF is done for me. Anything written by someone else is nothing more than fan fiction.
Dragon Wing (Death Gate #1) sho' was fun. It could have been a standalone book of its own, with how much it covered.I am several chapters into book #2. Instead of the Realm of Sky, with floating isles and a firmament, we are now on the Realm of Fire, which is actually a megajungle of which the dirty slant-eared elves live on top of a mossbed and sell weapons to the various human factions.
Why is Bakker banned?
>>25484588pagespammer demolished his reputation
>>25484321It's not like a Dance with Dragons has a satisfying conclusion either, might as well just end it anywhere, you're not getting the rest of the story either way.
>>25484686That sucks, I just finished the series
>>25484730Was it good?
>>25484746I thought it was. I liked everything besides the battles. The battle scenes bored me. I’m quite sad that the third part of the series seems unlikely to come. I have a lot of questions about the series and I don’t like the reddit discussion/theories that I have read.
>>25484588ignore the bans they don't actually mean anything
>>25483621I have only read Altered Carbon and maybe one fifth of its sequel, but the dude can't stop going >look at how cool my MC is!! While Kovacs goes on some multi page spergout everyone thinks is genius
I kind of want to read Wheel of Time but I also don't want to read like a million books.
What is the deal with Esmenet? Why can she have dunyain kids? Why did Kellhus fuck up so bad at the end? Was it intentional?
>>25482398>Dick, A Scanner Darkly>Campbell, Alone with the Horrors>finish reading Mein Kampf
>>25484876We'll never find out because the series got dropped by the author
Got the first Red Dwarf book… it’s kino
>>25484997Does he even write anymore? He hasn't published a book in almost 10 years.
How did Vance have such a wide vocabulary? Some of the words I have to look up in the dictionary while reading his stuff are very obscure - to the point where it seems unlikely he relied on a common thesaurus while he wrote. Same with another author who I note is banned from threadly discussion.
>>25485001Writes whiny pathetic blog posts. Grim!
>>25484588The only author in the tongue-in-cheek OP that I truly believe legitimately deserves to be banned. If you need to ask why, you haven't been here long enough.
Are there any darker sword and sorcery collections or novels (inspired by the likes of CAS) written this century worth reading?
>>25485012>bannedIgnore Baynefag's autism. Speak about whatever you like.
>>25484321Feast is bad and Dance is only a little better, and ending on "bad guys win" is a better place than after either of those two.Hard to recommend the series in general, despite the quality of the first three. There's no satisfying cutoff point.
>>25485019DMR books has quite a few collections in that vein.Old Moon Quarterly is a magazine filled with nothing but
>>25484588/sffg/ picked up a 2016er who has been droning on and on about how Bakker is the best at everything for 10 years and ongoing now.
>>25485019I like the sanctuary anthologies edited by asprin
>>25485110>despite the quality of the first threeI need some other series on this level. When is it going to come out?
>>25484776Which author do you think writes the best battles? This isn't a challenge, I just feel like I skim through most battle/fight scenes when I read because they aren't written well enough for me to imagine in my mind.
>>25485235>>25485235>>25485235
>>25484370HOLY FUCKFUCKELVEN STAR HAS BEEN SUCH A GOOD BOOK FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUCKFIVE MORE BOOKS I CAN'T FUCKING HANDLE ITI don't remember shit from reading the books in my early 20s. These books appeal to my specific autism in taking you to a new Sundered realm and spending time worldbuilding before the reveal at the end, including the native's myths about the world. Dragon Wing had a Maelstrom, a Low Realm with a giant machine that the native ex-dwarves (Gegs) were monitoring, a Mid Realm with elves and floating isles, a firmament and a High Realm with the most powerful -- to that world -- magi. Elven Star has a mostly overgrown eternal-day world, with several (100-200ish) "stars" shining then blinking out and coming back "on" after some time. The crew has flown to the star, which was revealed to be another part of the world they were own but with a night-cycle, and the mystery is soon to be solved.Zifnab has been amusing with his dragon that worries over his digestive system and colon. It must. He's a not!crossover from other stories, specifically an ex-god from Dragonlance, and drops anachronistic references constantly.THE DOG, MAN. HOO BOY.
>>25484997This is depressing>>25485013I love the series but ngl if I had seen his blog posts I never would have started it
