>What are you reading right now?
Dune
>What's your favorite alien civilization?
I quite like these Freman guys
>What are your favorite non-sentient alien creatures?
Alzabo
>Which aliens would you fug?
none

>>7751365
You should have uploaded that anon's chart in the thread and put (vagina shit) next to it under fantasy

>>7751365
>What are you reading right now?
The Death of Ivan Il'ic. No scifi/fantasy. Plan to read first book of Dying Earth, second book of Book the New Sun and first of Earthsea in the future. Fifth Head of Cerberus too.
>Which aliens would you fug?
Mother Kos.

>>7751379
http://imgur.com/FaU8eYs
Only the first category is "vagina shit" though.
I even have a category for Machismo at the end.

>>7751435
A very fine selection of literature, enjoy my friend.

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>>7751435
>Mother Kos
Are you some kind of fagget?

>>7751365
>Old Thread >>7731613

>Thread for genre fiction
>It's a self-described "general"
>OP image is a popular tumblr meme
>OP uses multiple links to reddit's image host
>asks about aliens and what aliens people are attracted to
>OP is American, or at least uses American spellings
I will never cease to be amazed at how hard plebs fall into stereotypes. This reads like a parody of how reddit manchildren conduct themselves on the board.
I guess I finally know why I've never clicked on these threads before.

>>7751437
I realize now that my layout was quite poorly conceived. The false impression anons have been getting is understandable.

>>7751574
>Self described general
Not a genre fiction fan but what's the problem with that?

>>7751365
>What are you reading right now?
Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell. I'm pretty impressed.

>What's your favorite alien civilization
The Xeelee

>What are your favorite non-sentient alien creatures?
Do triffids count?

>Which aliens would you fug?
Maybe a Gethenian

>>7751574
And you seem to never leave the house, sad bastard.

>>7751574
>OP uses multiple links to reddit's image host
Every pic in the OP was born and breed in the bowels of lit, if you are so new that you can't see that gtfo.

>>7751435
The later earthsea books didn't do it for me.

>>7752743
Didn't do it for anyone.

>>7751574
>goes out of his way to clicks on sci-fi general.
>reads through sci-fi general
>reads close enough to deduce nationality
>your all man children
>heh I showed them
You need to find better use of your time rather than subjecting yourself to things you hate.

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>>7752743
Le Guin actually hasn't written anything good since Lathe of Heaven in 1971. And Catwings.

I blame, no /pol/mo, feminism. Here:
>"I gradually realized that my own fiction was telling me that I could no longer ignore the feminine. While I was writing The Eye of the Heron in 1977, the hero insisted on destroying himself before the middle of the book. "Hey," I said, "you can't do that, you're the hero. Where's my book?" I stopped writing. The book had a woman in it, but I didn't know how to write about women. I blundered around a while and then found some guidance in feminist theory. I got excited when I discovered feminist literary criticism was something I could read and actually enjoy. I read The Norton Book of Literature by Women from cover to cover. It was a bible for me. It taught me that I didn't have to write like an honorary man anymore, that I could write like a woman and feel liberated in doing so."

And she never wrote another good book.

>>7752743
Are they not aimed at 8-13 year olds generally? I am assuming this, I read those when I was at middle school (8-12), they were in the school library.

>>7752903

She's right about ebooks tho

>>7752903
>yfw Roger Zelazny has written something good more recently than Ursula K. Le Guin, and he's dead

>>7752938
what did she say?

>>7752953

Well it was just an opinion that they cause reading with haste basically.

>>7752955
I thought you were talking about the Amazon thing.

What good books are there that include the interference, conflict and all around general shennigans about Gods? I recently saw that fucking shit film Gods of Egypt and the only sour taste it didn't leave in my mouth was a want more action regardings Gods. I've read American Gods before and I know the Malazan books have Gods but I find them quite hard to get into. Any reccomendations?

>>7753123
start with the Greeks

>>7753128
As in the mythology?

>>7753134
Yep.

>>7753143
I'm already fairly familar with greek mythology, but I guess I would be looking for something similar to the way the Greek Gods with the world and mortals. Thanks though.

>>7753123
Both are easy, but trash.
Lord of Light is a good book with the thematic.

>>7751365
I read Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead as a teenager. I donated them to charity a few years ago but recently I've been wanting to read them again and finish the series to boot. I bought Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow today. Excited to read them.
Right now I'm reading Shade's Children by Garth Nix however.

>>7751510
Yonic as fuck.

>>7751574
Your prose is stilted.

>>7751217
I didn't know this existed

>>7751365
>What are you reading right now?
The Pirate King by Salvatore

>What's your favorite alien civilization?
Asari from Mass Effect

>What are your favorite non-sentient alien creatures?
nothing comes to mind right now.

>Which aliens would you fug?
Asari, hands down.

>>7752903
>feel liberated
I'm never going to read anything this woman wrote after 1976.
>>7752743
>>7752797
Probably very few things will make me not want to drop the book if I try reading them after Tolstoy . Gonna need to let some time pass or read something on middle ground before.
>>7752888
>You need to find better use of your time rather than subjecting yourself to things you hate.
That's the flavour of life, where do you think you are?

>>7752938
A broken clock is right 2 times a day.

>>7753123
Gilgamesh?

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>>7753470
>I didn't know this existed
If you're a Earthsee fan it's better you'll never watch that movie, people hate it.
I like it very much but I haven't read the books.
>tfw 3 more years to wizardhood

>>7753482
Most authors are shit after 1 or 2 books anyway. They just can't come up with any good ideas and end up rehashing the ones they already have. The more you read from one person, the more similar each one sounds because each one is drawn from the same person's viewpoints and perspectives.

And stochastically speaking, the sample size is tiny because people don't get to write all that many books before dying so you will never really live to find out whether or not there's any correlation there or not.

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>>7753498
Spoilered for lewdness.

>>7751878
Cornell is a damn good comic writer, most of the time the transition to book writer doesn't work though, like with Greg Rucka. His comic books are some of the best out there, but his novels are pure shit.

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>>7753522
i'd give him my true name.

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>>7753531
>him
He's already taken, fuccboi.

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>>7753545
>thinking i meant that frumpy bitch

>>7753498

My friend's a Ghibli nut and a fantasyfag and this movie is so bad it makes him so pissed off. Every time it comes up he'll rattle off reasons why it's shit (because Ghibli's head made his son direct it and his son's talentless) and why it's inaccurate to the books (no duh), so I've gradually grown to hate it too without ever seeing it.

I did read the books, though, but something about them rubbed me the wrong way so I never finished them.

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>>7753557
What I can say is that I like it. I don't get all the hate, it seems like it's the scapegoat for something that I'm not aware of, it's not a masterpiece but it's not that horrible either.
If I remember correctly the son of Miyazaki only became the director late into development. Miyazaki look like an awful father too.
Watch it and decide for yourself.

>>7753123
pretty much any forgotten realms novel if you can stomach them

>>7753545
>my true name is Hitler

I'm reading Isaac Asimov's Complete Robot, loving it. First Asimov book, btw. Now, that short story called "Victory Unintentional" is amazing. Does he have any novel similar to this, as in robots going to another planet and meet inhabitants from that planet?

>>7753633
There's a prequel to it which you can find in "The Early Asimov"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_Final!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victory_Unintentional

>>7753123
The Silmarillion

>>7753680
Thank you.

>>7753557
The movies mixed a bunch of shit together in the books.

>>7753557

Are you sure your friend isn't just an insufferable miyazakifag and just parrots things? Are you sure you're not just a fag who parrots things?

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>Sel is in the same planetary system as Threnody
Huh. That explains some possible things. Neat.

>>7754612
How you liked Calamity cosmerefag?

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>>7754636
I don't read non-Cosmere besides the first Legion book.

>>7751365
whats lit's consensus on Malazan? Is my time better spent reading something else?

>>7754639
If as a plot twist calamity is revealed to be a comsere universe, what would you do?

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>>7754652
It wouldn't be but if so, I suppose I'd have to read Reckoners.

>>7754642
Always better spent elsewhere.

>>7754688
why?

>>7754642
You're on 4chan trying to get opinions about fantasy novels from mentally ill teenagers. Let's not pretend that your time is valuable.

>>7754710
Excuse me for intending to put my downtime between my marathon penor-tugging-sessions to good use, you conceited cunt

>>7753287
>Shade's Children
Really cool concept. Poor execution.

is there a book where a contemporary earth military force invades a fantasy world and fucks everything up?
be honest, anon. you have dreamed about something like this

What is the read order for Asimov's books?

>>7755101

Magic > Science.

>>7755101
Yes. Gate. Leave.

>>7755150
fuck magic, would like to see a wizard survive a carpet bombing

>>7755162
>light novel
>manga
>anime television series

that sounds pretty bad

>>7755181
Yes. The idea is pretty bad. Unless you get an actually interesting fantasy world and not generic pink slime, there's just nowhere to go with it. And you can say you just want eye candy, popcorn, turn-your-brain off wish fulfillment, but that kind of thing is, you know, pretty bad. And nobody that does that does an actually interesting fantasy world. It's just a really long /tg/ HFY thread.

David Weber's Hell's Gate is something like what you're asking for, but it's not one-sided. Diana Wynne Jones' Dark Lord of Derkholm is what you really need.
>fantasy world invaded by modern world and forced to conform to standard fantasy tropes for the tourists
>family man gene wizard forced to be a Dark Lord, plows under his garden and remodels his house to look ominous
>demon-summoning and sexy griffin shenanigans ensue
It's really good, not even trying to insult you anymore.

>>7755181

>fuck magic, would like to see a wizard survive a carpet bombing.

any of the miriad of shield spells

any kind of long distance teleport.

intangibility

Just off the top of my head

>>7755219
/tg/ pls go

No Gods here, only Wizards.

>>7755101
I read some book like that recently, but I can't recall what it is.

They traveled through some gate and tried to conquer shit.

>>7755181
>fuck magic, would like to see a wizard survive a carpet bombing

Fuck I can't stop fucking laughing at this for some reason.

>>7755240
It's always a gate. Never a spaceship (unless you're Stasheff, and who remembers him now?), never stasis, never even dimensional teleportation. Just gates. It is the most generic premise.

>>7755216
Diana Wynne Jones in general is a really fun read if you want to see fantasy tropes get subverted

>>7755255
Did you picture a wizard dropping bombs off a flying carpet?

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>>7755259
>dimensional teleportation
Now I remember, pic related.

>>7755216
>>7755262
I'll take your word for it, thanks.

>>7755265
or getting bombed with carpets

>>7755303
I don't think I want to read that. the cover alone makes me feel like my IQ just dropped a few points

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>>7755308
The author was actually in the military, but the protagonist just came across as a whiny bitch to me.

A secondary character was more interesting than the protagonist.

Will I be able to shill.... convince you with this new pic?

Also goodreads.
>Army Officer. Fugitive. Sorcerer.

>Across the country and in every nation, people are waking up with magical talents. Untrained and panicked, they summon storms, raise the dead, and set everything they touch ablaze.

Army officer Oscar Britton sees the worst of it. A lieutenant attached to the military's Supernatural Operations Corps, his mission is to bring order to a world gone mad. Then he abruptly manifests a rare and prohibited magical power, transforming him overnight from government agent to public enemy number one.

>The SOC knows how to handle this kind of situation: hunt him down--and take him out. Driven into an underground shadow world, Britton is about to learn that magic has changed all the rules he's ever known, and that his life isn't the only thing he's fighting for.

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>>7755327
>Will I be able to shill.... convince you with this new pic?

no. holy fuck, what a can of worms I opened.

>>7755327
What's even the target market for this atrocity? As far as I know, the army reservists who like to read military fiction and the neckbeards who read stuff about wizards don't have much overlap.

>>7755379
it sounds like trying to pick up comic readers. it could possibly make for a mediocre comic book, but sounds absolutely bad as novel.

>>7755379
Do you know any of them? There's tremendous overlap. See: Anyone who reads Eric Flint. I bet 10% of /tg/ is military.

>>7755405
Seriously? I'll take your word for it, but that seems depressing.

>>7755379
>What's even the target market for this atrocity?

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11783484-control-point
Check in the right hand corner.

>>7755434
>Check in the right hand corner.
Is that the corner where it says "Sign in" or the one where it says "mobile version"?

>>7755445
>not having Goodreads sign in automatically with your Facebook
It's like you're actually pretty cool.

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>>7755445
>i share a thread with people this stupid

>>7755147

Anyone?

>>7755686
1. Not sorts of people 2. Not a right hand corner.

>>7756006
There is none, his writing style is freakishly accessible. Just start something.

>>7756018
i always preferred his short stories to his novels but yeah you can start anywhere

>>7753470
When I first played Mass Effect I thought the Asari were sinister as fuck and kept waiting for some sort of "bombshell" revelation about them but it was just strong blue women all the way down.

>>7756064
I remember in the third one there was a little side conversation between some background characters that really freaked me out. A Turian, a Human, and a Salarian are all sitting around a table talking about Asari women, but they start talking about different features that the other ones can't see. They all start sounding confused and then the conversation loops.

>2spooky4me

Fantasy series I still like as an "adult":

Lord of the Rings, Sabriel, Books of Pellinor, Great Tree of Avalon, and Harry Potter

Anything else that I read (and it was a colossal fuck-load from the age of 10-16) is probably not worth it from my view

>>7756160
Cool story bro.

>>7756764
wtf is col soy bo? trying to be funny and fail.

Science Fiction is to literature as ...
Scientology is to science

>>7756781
Anti-genre posts go at the beginning of the thread, you'll have to wait for the next one.

>>7755308
Don't judge the book by its cover.

But you also judged correctly.

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>>7754642
Bloated: The Series

>>7754703
Because 10000 pages of mediocrity can be instead invested into reading other much better novels. You could read 10+ series of by far better work.

>>7757021
I don't know about yall, but I read Malazan the series because it got my dick hard.

I also know that reading 10k+ pages would make my epeen super huge, and all of you will wantonly line up to sheath my rod of accomplishments with your boipuccies.

Hey guys, I'm getting more into surreal/horror sci-fi. Should I pick up Borges?

>>7757487
Borges, Wolfe and Chesterton, yes.

>>7756006
this would be the chronological reading order:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Asimov#.22Greater_Foundation.22_series
but I have regularly seen people saying "read it in publication order" here. chronological order makes more sense overall but spoilers a few plot points if you lived your whole life behind the moon.

>>7756143
that was in the second on Illium. and it isn't about features only they can see but features they are attracted to, which the other can see as well and they wonder if that's actually the asari's real shape at all and if they'd look completely different for other species.
it's nonsense, they can't manipulate photos or video material on the fly now just to look different for other species could they?

>No sci-fi books that appeal to my interests
>Too lazy to write my own
Fug

>>7757608

I'll write it. What are your interests?

>>7757617
Ass to ass.

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>>7755150
Magic = sufficiently advanced technology

>>7757629
Dune and any of the Asimov books comes to mind.

>>7757641
Any time something works, it's Magic.
When you know how it works, it's Science

>>7757617
It's not so much 'interests' as it is just pet peeves about the genre. I'd like something low-key with advanced alien tech that isn't just overtly magical but has a strict kind of logic behind it. No fucking laser guns. Something with a strong focus on aliens and synthetic lifeforms, but with aliens that aren't just shitty painted humans. No FTL space travel. No "quantum teleportation wormhole antimatter" crap. Preferably no humans, or humans in a non-central position w.r.t. the story. No "end of the world" plots. No space opera crap. No planet hopping.

It's probably becoming obvious why I can't find anything.

>>7757737
It's called realism

>>7757851
More or less. But where can one find it in science-fiction?

>>7757737
You know, a lot of those feature in John C. Wright's Count to the Eschaton, but it still feels like a space opera.
>Present-80,000 years in the future so far (series will cover until the heat death of the universe)
>Alien tech has strict logic but it always looks magic at first
>lasers are involved but always doing purely laser things (propelling/braking starships)
>Aliens a constant threat, when they show up they're either completely incomprehensible, uploaded to AIs, or both; almost all mainline humans are dead by the second book
>Speed of light is an absolute barrier, so we have alien invasions on their way for eight thousand years
>Antimatter but no quantum teleportation
>Humans are central, but they're post-humans for mosh of the story
>End of the world happens three times so far, never as bad as we thought
>Planet hopping takes a lot of time and energy so most people don't do it
It's a hard SF space opera. Strangest thing ever. Worth a read though.
>muh fedora
>muh puppies
>muh Catholicism
It's still worth a read.

>>7757737
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worldwar_series

this uses a few of the points you mentioned, by far not all though

>>7757957
Don't read Turtledove, he has never met a human being and his alt-hist is uninspired and his prose literally repeats itself. I made that mistake, you don't have to.

>>7757881
Why the fuck would someone write a sf novel without the need for it?
Also Peace by Gene Wolfe even if it's not sf really.

>>7757950
I'm Catholic so I don't mind that anyway.
This sounds like Hyperion. How's the writing?

>>7758083
Wolfe-lite. Pretty throwback.

>>7758132
So if I want to have fun and don't expect proper literature I'll enjoy it? Sounds fun. I may check him out when my ereader comes.

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Has anyone read Ayn Rand's Art of Writing? It's great stuff. Starts out with how there isn't some mystical force behind your talent, then:
>Do not let your own talent—your good premises—act in support of your bad premises and of the lazy or the irrational in your mind.
>If to any extent you hold the premise of nonobjectivity, then by your own choice, you do not belong in literature, or in any human activity, or on this earth.

>>7758148
It's proper literature as much as Hyperion is. Lots of classical references. Not as much sex on top of dead people. Or sex with death robots.

>>7758214
I'd put Hyperion more into fun pulp than proper literature, but it's been ages since I've read it.

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>>7758210
>hack writer giving writing advice

Hey! I like sci-fi literature. Has any of you gotten into philosophy? Many on /lit/ are speaking of philosophic books and it just gets me interested but I don't think I want to spend my time reading something so dull (I have not tried yet though).
So do you think I will enjoy some kind of philosophy if some of my favorite books are: The Last Elf, His Dark Materials, everything by Jules Verne, The Plague.

>>7758245
It gets better.
>If a novel presents a marvelous philosophical message but has no plot, miserable characterization, and a wooden style full of bromides, it is a bad work of art.

>>7758268

>His Dark Materials

How's that? Been meaning to read it, never got around to it. Worth it?

>The Last Elf

Are you Italian?

>>7758284

So she purposely made Atlas Shrugged into a bad work of art so that people would be forced to look at the message since everything else is shit.

Would have worked if only the message wasn't shit too.

>>7758268
No honestly that's a pretty poor selection of favourites.
If you want to get into something it's expected of you to put in a little effort.

>>7758285
>How's that? Been meaning to read it, never got around to it. Worth it?
First book is genuinely good fantasy. Second one starts to get iffy, still has some cool things happening, but the philosophy and story start to split apart. Third book is terrible. Chapters spent on side characters visiting Doctor Seuss land so they can pick up some sort of allegory they'll never use again. He tries to go full fedora and full pomo at the same time, so we get the unwarranted smugness of New Atheism with the disappointment of post-modernism. He wanted to make it Paradise Lost or something but it got so far away from him he needed a telescope to see it, and it stops being fun to read at all.
Terrible anti-Narnia. Would not use in a duel against C. S. Lewis.

>>7758300

>New Atheism

I never got what is "new" about it. Like, old atheists didn't believe in god, and new atheists...also don't believe in god I guess? Beats me.

>>7758285
>>7758300
Well I was like 13 or 14 when I read it. Although I got a bit confused in second book when author introduced animals with wheels, I found the 3rd book better. At least read the 1st book, that one truly is great.

Also, I'm Latvian.
>>7758293
Sorry, I am starting to read more classics now. Just finished Master and Margarita a few minutes ago. Didn't enjoy it though.

>>7758307
Yes, but New Atheists not only don't believe in God, they use really crappy arguments to disprove his existence. Were you aware that bad things happen to people sometimes, and that religious people have done bad things? If that has proven religion is a lie to you, you're a new atheist. Oh, and you also have to evangelize to all your friends.

>>7757950
It looks good, will look it up.

>>7758309

>Latvian

I once knew a girl from Latvia who was named like Naruto's final villain. Madara, like that's an actual girl name over there. I thought that was funny. But I digress.

Anyway back on topic, I think you should start with some entry level philosophy, like don't jump right into Heidegger or Hegel. I know it's a meme but the Greeks would be a good starting point.

>>7758329
Has anyone done a film of the Socratic dialogues? I haven't been able to find one. I'd love to do a set of modern-setting Socratic dialogues, just a bunch of dudes and a lady or two talking philosophy. With an all-black cast.

>>7758293
>Jules Verne
>poor

I'll cut ya m8

Anything with major focus on celestial beings or aliens? Not in space please.

>>7758337

>You see Tyrone, I think the nature of Justice is derived from the people.

>That's a fair point Jamal, but actually...

>they're eating KFC and juggling basketballs the entire time they're talking

I would watch it.

>>7758329
What about Marx? Is he fine for starters? Cause his work actually seems interesting (but mostly because I know something about it)

>>7758342

Childhood's End sounds like the book for you.

>>7758342
Lord of Light 100%.

>>7758353
Marx relies heavily on Hegel.
If you want to get into philosophy go chronologically, starting with either Plato or presocratics. Then move to Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Leibniz and Spinoza. In that order.

>>7758356
>>7758367
Thanks. Can you give me a few words about them so I can decide? The GR descriptions don't give me much.

And which of the two is "less Sci Fi", if that makes sense?

>>7758449
Both are very sf

>>7758449
use wikipedia descriptions over goodreads descriptions.

>>7758452
if you take away the space ship and turn it into an, I don't know, dimensional portal instead, childhood's end could well be a fantasy book. it has all the elements to work as fantasy instead of science-fiction.

>>7758472
There is essentially no difference between sf and fantasy.

>>7758486

That's because "sci fi" , "fantasy" and the like are just meaningless distinctions created by the publishing industry and none of it has ever meant shit to the actual authors, Harlan Ellison is very vocal about this but then again he is vocal about everything.

>>7758449
Both of them use SF trappings to tell a fantasy story. Neither of them feel sci-fi.

>>7758498
I'm aware of that.
>>7758499
Every Sf tells a fantasy story.

>>7758486
Yeah, but with technobabble, robots and all that gay shit.

>>7758513
Yes, if you abstract it enough, but for the loose definitions of "science fiction" and "fantasy" that we are using here, I, Robot tells a science fiction story while Lord of Light tells a fantasy story.

And don't let anyone tell you we aren't nice to on-the-spectrum-Americans.

>>7758519
That's just the superficial aesthetic.

>>7758526
Lord of Light is science fiction since everything is explained by science. And this is using Asimov's explanation.

>>7758539
Nothing is explained by science. Everything is explained by saying science did something. It's no more science fiction than Dying Earth.

>>7758544
That's how all sf works. All sf is fantasy.

>>7758549
k bro

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On Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles, did her conversion to Christianity change the tone or focus of the series? I ask because I've read Narnia and LOTR and have had my fill of Not-Bible stories in my fantasy.

>>7758549

That's like saying that Crime and Punishment is fantasy because it didn't really happen.

This is all pointless.

>>7758560
Exactly. All fiction is fantasy and it's sf and fantasy is just an aesthetic that helps us categorize it and help authors explore their themes.

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>>7758566

>>7758566
And aesthetically Lord of Light is fantasy. There you go.

>>7758558
You haven't had your fill of not-Bible till you've read Book of the New Sun, newfag.

>>7758646
>>7758572
It's kind of a mix.
Also people who respond with anime pictures are the most annoying faggots after >genre fiction morons

>>7758572
what does the poster want to tell us with this image?

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>>7758652

>>7758652
You would probably be much happier somewhere else, then. I would suggest a college book club, or perhaps Reddit.

>>7758657
Expression of frustration, mingled with exhaustion maybe? You're a human, you tell me.

>>7758660
I used to run a book club, but there's almost no interest here for reading.
And since my lit friends are in my hometown I only get to see them once or twice a month so this is really the only place left that I know of.
>>7758657
That he's a massive faggot

>>7758675
Sorry to hear that. Maybe all of /lit/ that isn't this thread then?

>>7758682
These threads are fast and sometimes discuss novels I like.

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>>7758690
Well then, I wish you good luck in your crusade against anime and... oh, you were greenposting genre fiction morons. Apologies, I thought you were calling this thread moronic. Glad we could sort out our disagreements.

>>7758652
>anime pictures

True. It's almost as if this place was made for people who are into that shit. Gross.

>>7758675
>That he's a massive faggot
oh now I get it.

Does everyone here like Tolkien? I know he's supposed to be the father of fantasy or whatever but his writing style doesn't do it for me and find it tiring to read.

>>7758698
Notice how I was arguing how the distinction between science fiction, fantasy and every other story is essentially arbitrary and used just to make it simpler for us to categorize.
>>7758832
I love his biblical prose, simplicity and power of emotion he brings to the table as well as his vast imagination. Children of Hurin are a true tragedy.
Also he isn't really the father of fantasy, it existed well before him, it was being written around 50 or so years before he published Lord of The Rings.

Thoughts on Uprooted?

>>7751365

>What are you reading right now?

Finished the second book of Prince of Nothing. I won't be reading the third. The first book was interesting, focusing mostly on political intrigue. But the second was awful There are two types of chapters, battles and people obsessing over Kellhus. He just doesn't write good battles and why on earth would anyone like reading about people devoid of any personality of their own. Even his descriptions of violence just weren't fun to read.

>>7758845
>Iliad
But yes, modern fantasy has much deeper roots than Tolkien, and dorf'n'elf doesn't really draw on him.

>>7758868
I didn't want to stretch the modern fantasy all the way back.
But yes, Tolkien is very much a classicist.

Since i didn't wanted to spend money on the books and i couldn't find them for lending anywhere, i just finished watching the GoT show, all five seasons of it, just to see what was the fuss about it.

I know that the story diverts at one point, but is it really worth to read the books? I was thinking on just reading the difference from some wiki.

Also, was it marketed by George as a fantasy series or what? Because 80% of the focus being on politics turned my fantasy boner down.

>>7758917
The books are a drag and it's probably not worth it, unless you really liked the show and want to revisit.
There is better stuff to read. Amber Chronicle is a mixture of fantasy and politics you might be interested in.

I tried getting into this series called The Unremembered by Peter Orullian, but I can't even make it past the first chapter. I dunno if I'm just getting old and jaded or what, but I find the world building too dense and bothersome to put up with. Is this series worth digging into? There's so many other things I could be reading so I don't want to bother with it unless there's some kind of major pay off here. I picked up the book on a whim cause I was looking for new authors.

>>7758917
Most of the action in the story is politics. The magic and such is off to the periphery, mostly contained in Dany, Jon, and Bran chapters for most of the books (so far). The show is diverges A LOT from the books to the extent that season 5 was more original content than adaptation, and even the stuff that was "adapted" was more like "loosely inspired by". Overall the show is totally inferior to the books even at its best, but if you didn't find the setting that interesting I wouldn't bother. The books are very long and densely packed with information, so they have to be read several times if you want to figure out everything that's going on. That or you could spend days trying to soak it up from wiki articles of dubious reliability, since there are so many competing fan theories for things finding a truly unbiased article about any of the unsolved lore bits is very difficult.

>>7758558
Anne Rice has always culturally been Catholic though, she only very very recently distanced herself from religion.

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>>7757950
How accurate of a synopsis is this of "Count to a Trillion":
>Hundreds of years in the future, after the collapse of the Western world, young Menelaus Illation Montrose grows up in what was once Texas as a gunslinging duelist for hire. But Montrose is also a mathematical genius—and a romantic who dreams of a future in which humanity rises from the ashes to take its place among the stars.

>The chance to help usher in that future comes when Montrose is recruited for a manned interstellar mission to investigate an artifact of alien origin. Known as the Monument, the artifact is inscribed with data so complex, only a posthuman mind can decipher it. So Montrose does the unthinkable: he injects himself with a dangerous biochemical drug designed to boost his already formidable intellect to superhuman intelligence. It drives him mad.

>Nearly two centuries later, his sanity restored, Montrose is awakened from cryo-suspension with no memory of his posthuman actions, to find Earth transformed in strange and disturbing ways, and learns that the Monument still carries a secret he must decode—one that will define humanity's true future in the universe.

Because it doesn't sound like something I'll find interesting.

Also
>that Amazon photo

>>7758854
>Uprooted is a fantasy novel written by Naomi Novik. Ellen DeGeneres will produce the movie adaptation after Warner Brothers purchased the rights.

so is it feminist propaganda then?

>>7759167
Pretty accurate to start with. Wright likes to pack his stories with ideas, so there's a lot more.

Interstellar mission to mine a star made of antimatter, as that's the only thing that could make an interstellar mission possible. The star also has an alien monument so they send geniuses to investigate. Part of what they can decipher of the monument goes from addition and multiplication to game theory to economics, saying basically that mining the antimatter proves to the beings inhabiting the Hyades Cluster that we are smart enough to serve as the equivalent of draft animals in whatever it is they're doing. The captain orders them to stop the mission so the aliens can't find Earth, but a group of treacherous Spaniards mutiny, take the ship back to Earth, and conquer it.

I didn't even mention the AI that he gets naked to blush at when there aren't enough channels of communication in voice and gesture, or the space princess. I had a lot of fun reading it. The sequels get crazier. Lots of homages to really old SF. And as crazy as the worldbuilding gets, his themes are really down to Earth: we won't solve our problems with technology, getting more powerful brains lets us make even bigger mistakes.

>>7759201
I don't know what an Ellen is, the description sounded cool and it had decent ratings.

>>7759233
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_DeGeneres
trigger warning

Any opinions on Moorcock? Thinkng of starting the Corum series

>>7759227
We'll you made it sound kind of interesting so I'll give it a shot, but it definitely isn't the book I was describing.

>>7759167
>that Amazon photo
There's absolutely no denying he's a fedora catholic, he's only in it for the aesthetic desu.

>>7759201
Back to /pol/

>>7758854
I enjoyed it.

>>7759428
I take that as a yes

>>7751365
Asimov is king

>>7754710
Shut the fuck up I am not mentally Ill you CIA nigger

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>>7759694
king of comfy
just listened to the audio versions of some of his black widowers and early short stories and they were exactly the medicine i needed to relax

>>7759337
Pretty bad desu.

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>>7759337
The stuff I've read was pretty surreal.
I think I would have been much better prepared mentally had my copy used this cover.

Whom ever was the fagget that suggested the red rising series, thanks.

I enjoyed books one and two .

/sffg/ I need a good book to get me back to reading after some time off.

what's a good book for someone who liked:
>The Grace of Kings
>Fevre Dream
>The Golem and The Jinni
>The Night Circus

>>7760230
...
Brits adapted it to a movie.
The absolute madmen.

What's some quality fantasy or scifi that has entertaining characters (not necessarily realistic, just interesting), strong plot and doesn't get bogged down with trying to be too gritty?

I'm not looking for generic Tolkien ripoffs, but I don't want the edgy bullshit of Malazan and First Law either. Something in between would be nice, like anything written by Hobb, Kay or Sanderson.

>>7760892
Gentlemen Bastards

>>7760896
Already read that one sadly. Shame about that third book though.

>>7760903
i know right, hoping he gets his shit together on this next one.

I guess you cant go wrong with Dune

Has anyone here read Blindsight by Peter Watts? I'm surprised to see no mention of it here

>>7760959
It gets mentioned every so often.

Personally, as great as the ideas and general plot were, I couldn't stand Watts' dull prose and his tendency to describe simple events with scientific jargon.

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anyone here read Making History by Stephen Fry?
I have high hopes for it due to this critic's comment:

>Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times found the comic tone of the book 'shockingly tasteless' and 'deeply offensive' given the subject matter.

>>7761030
I was until
>While most of the book is written in standard prose, a couple of chapters are written in the format of a screenplay.

Too avant-garde for my taste.

>>7761038
I can deal with that. how was the rest of the book though?

>>7760892
Have you read the Foundation series already?

Speaking of, is it word listening reading the other books after i finish Second Foundation?

>>7761114
>word
Meant to say worth.

>>7761114
Do you mean you listened to Second Foundation before Foundation and Foundation and Empire?
Or do you mean the Foundation books Asimov wrote after the trilogy. If you mean the former, I don't know, it'd probably good to read/hear them all, if you mean the latter, go for it, they're really good, especially Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth.
You might want to read some Robots too though, especially Robots and Empire.
Personally I think some of the sequels are even better than the Foundation Trilogy

>>7761141
The latter, actually, i'm 1/3 into the Second Foundation.

They're even better? Goddamn, i fucking love the Foundation. Even more so because i'm studying psychology and the story makes me feel like a speshul snowflake.

>>7761203
many people will say the original trilogy is best, but I think it's well done how Asimov connected all of it together with the additional books. you'll have to decide for yourself I'm afraid.

>Guy shoots himself up with super-intelligence formula.
>Starts seeing math everywhere.

I'm going to keep reading but this was just hilariously dumb. Why does Wright have such a huge hard-on for mathematics.

>>7761495
Which book? Which Wright?

Any good fantasy books about exploring unknown lands and meeting new people? Less war-focused and more about travel.

>>7761553
Book of the Short Sun

>>7761553
The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings

>>7761525
Count to a Trillion

>buy book two of a heinlein collection for 50p at the local library
>book one is £50+ on ebay

why?

>>7761622
I'd rather no... oh you mean the book, all right.

>>7761634
I know that feel

>>7760892
I'm about halfway through Jack Vance's Lyonesse trilogy right now and I think it fits your bill.

>>7760892
Conan the Barbarian

>>7760892
Try The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi. It's kinda confusing but I can't say I dislike the concept of a practically immortal guy pretending he's Arsene Lupin and stealing things from people's heads in a future where people upload their minds online.

>>7758832
>but his writing style doesn't do it for me and find it tiring to read.
This saddens me, I can't get enough of it.

>>7758322
How come atheists aren't allowed to be annoying and vocal? We're all just people.

>>7761775
They are allowed, that's why they published so many books and have such a reputation online. If they weren't nobody would know of them.
And this vocality hasn't lead to much political pressure or media pressure on them as far as I know.

>>7761786
Then what's with all the negativity here?

>>7761790
Because of the retardation of your average new atheist?

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>>7761802
Don't see how it's any worse than the retardation of your average person. Let's drop it.

>>7761809
I agree, but that's what makes people often react with negativity towards the specific group. Just like most people dislike Evangelicals.

>>7760959
Loved it. Terrific atmosphere, stuck tight with its themes, never slowed down.

>>7761495
Do you not feel a special tingle in your nether regions when looking at a particularly magnificent proof?

>>7761809
>Don't see how it's any worse than the retardation of your average person.
Because the average person doesn't always assume that they are just inherently smart and everyone else is stupid. If you don't act like that you're not the kind of atheist we're talking about.

>>7762088
>Because the average person doesn't always assume that they are just inherently smart and everyone else is stupid.
You don't talk to a lot of people, do you?

>>7762095
You need new friends.

I'm about 230 pages into Mistborn and it's pretty cool I guess. Not that I can properly judge it as I haven't read much fantasy. What do you people think of it?

And how do you read these huge fantasy series? 3 books a 800 pages, all in a row or do you take a break after one and read other stuff?

>>7762478
The first mistborn is a decent read.
The two sequels are worthless in my opinion

I'm reading the prequels to the Mortal Engines series

I must say Uplift's Galactic civilization was pretty cool

It's a bit childish, but the whale ships from Leviathan

Many of them, I blame /tg/

Hey /lit/,
I'm in need of your recommendations. Before I start, let me just say that I checked all threads and infographic and goodreads and whatnot. So, I am actually looking for two book recommendation.
1) A hard si-fi/space opera (or a book series) similar to Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama/Space Odyssey or Weir's Martian or Card's Ender'S Game (I know, they seem different), where there is no clear bad guy and the book focuses on exploration and the thrill is created by the unknown, not by some political/personal fight between people or opposing factions (as in Dune, for example).
2) A dark fantasy like the Witcher series, A Song of Ice and Fire series, The lord of the Rings, etc...The world should not be black and white (LotR), but rather grey-ish (aSoIaF, Witcher). I know it's vague, but just pick your favourite.

Thanks guys!

>>7762478
It's decent.
>And how do you read these huge fantasy series?
I just mainline it. The mistborn trilogy isn't very long. That's only about 1 week (2 if busy) of reading.

I'm wanting to get into the Wheel of Time series. How the fuck do I approach it? It seems so intimidating, for years I've wanted to try it out and read the first volume but the length of it is intimidating, plus the price of 14 books. Can it really be worth reading that much for a single fantasy series?

>>7762878
For 1), If you want really hard sci-fi, then try Schild's Ladder by Greg Egan.

>>7762914
>2500 pages in a week
Ok dude. You're awesome, we got it.

Why is Childhood's end so good while not being as sci-fi as any other sci-fi book?

>>7762958
Because Sci Fi is garbage, so the more a book distances itself away from it, the better it becomes.