>Fantasy
Selected: http://i.imgur.com/3v2oXAY.jpg
General: http://i.imgur.com/igBYngL.jpg
Flowchart: http://i.imgur.com/uykqKJn.jpg
>Sci-Fi
Selected: http://i.imgur.com/A96mTQX.jpg
General: http://i.imgur.com/r55ODlL.jpg/ http://i.imgur.com/gNTrDmc.jpg
>what are you currently reading
>most confusing sff
>characters you hate
That's a pretty decent cake my dudes
>>8010109
Because imgur bullshit meme is the OP image, I'm hiding this thread.
>>8010139
I'm offended, Kim
I'm reading The mote in God's eye, pretty good stuff
also i was midway through dune's messiah but not feeling like it lately
>list
What did he mean by this?
What is the name of this movie >>8009061
59 days until the Great Ordeal
Get hyped
>>8010749
Fire in the sky
What's some good fantasy or sci-fi with norse mythology? I think i heard about American Gods having it, but i'm not really sure.
Also, why the hell are we so slow now.
Still reading The Dread Wyrm
Really pissed off thatde vraeli dies, and dies so unchivilrously, and dies in the exact same way that de rohan does even though he just watched gabriel kill de rohan in the exact same fucking way. He was the most interesting character with the most interesting/historical ethics/morals/worldview and had the most potential for a cool plot with his "angel (ash? Some other cosmic entity?)
>>8011116
I know Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword involves norse saga, but although I like a lot of both his sci fi and fantasy, I couldn't get into that book. I didn't really give it much of a chance though, just a few pages, so it might be alright.
I love Waley's translation of Journey to the West, what are some other English language books in that vein?
>>8011116
See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology_in_popular_culture#Literature
>>8011162
But how will i know which ones are good?
How good is Brave New World, in a scale from 1984 to 10?
>>8011116
American Gods has """"Odin""""" in it. There are no good allusions to northern European mythology in it though.
It's a bad book. Gaiman is reddit.
Just read the real thing.
>>8011207
http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/ice/coo/
>>8011116
American Gods is okay-ish. I have tried to get through it multiple times, with little success. Last time I got to about the halfway mark, but I felt like Shadow wasn't an interesting enough character to carry the weakish plot
>>8011116
This wasn't so bad.
>>8011188
The Poul Anderson is good. The others I haven't read, but they don't look very good.
Does the 'Norse mythology' have to be considered real in the book, or can it be a background belief system as in historical fiction?
>>8011116
>tfw you're writing a novel series that heavily features Norse myth
I hope I can get it published.
>>8011117Fucker had it coming. I more expected an about-face when he realised the Angel was not genuine.
>>8011257
I really liked how his entire outlook was based on huge balls and honor and violence and being the very best at violence.
That's how knights were in the middle ages; you could be a fearless killing machine and get all the privledges that went along with it, or you could be a cowardly weakling knight and be treated no better than a peasant.
He knew at all times that he was the best and he didn't give a shit about anyone or anything and he was 100% honorable at all times.
That's why his choice to wear theenchanted armorseemed really out of character
/sffg/, is this too stupid a way to start a story?
>just days after camping out for the new iPhone, the MC drops hers in the toilet
>not sure what to do she flushes it and decides to buy a new one
>her parents are so pissed the forbid her from getting a new one
>seeing her only other option is using an android phone she goes into the sewers to find the one she flushed
>there she finds a sacred temple to the god of the sewer gators where a "sewer serpent" offers her a new one in exchange for her services
>>8011202
>Sword of Truth.jpeg
>>8011383
That sounds great.
>>8011383
Sounds hilarious, good one.
>>8011245
>same
i'm pretty sure i can get it published if i keep working at it
>>8011794
ideas are actually very cheap. everything depends on the execution.
>>8011843
What if you have a very original and creative idea, but you write like John Green?
>>8011846
well he is a nyt best seller with two movies made from his books
>>8011853
But /lit/ will never accept me :^(
>>8011854
I am now.
>>8011855
>you care what people on an anonymous imageboard think
>>8011878
I don't have any other accompaniment with me, so you guys will have to do.
>>8011881
JG has $17M and hordes of adoring fans. even a fraction of his success will net you a bunch of friends and fuckbuddies
>>8011892
You're right, time to write my generic YA novel with zany teenage characters now.
>>8011202
A solid 8 for me.
Most people seem to like it much less than 1984, but Brave New World has a much more interesting and more grey vision of the future.
>>8011898
its called Naruto
>that moment you realize Hillary Clinton is the mother of all inhumini
Never Let Me Go is overrated.
Also, where is the love for The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi.
>>8011202
1984 >>> BNW
BNW is badly disguised erotica.
>blood mirror is releasing till November
>age of myth till june
>sanderson next year
>dresden files????
>locke lamora ???
THERE ARE A BUNCH OF OTHER BOOKS I WANT TOO, BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER.
Almost done with In Greens Jungles. It's really interesting, seems like I may start connecting things soon.
Is it just me or is Horn a bit too similar to Silk as a character?
>>8012783
Listen son ... " i caught the ball, i won the game". I know you read that at the end of obw.
>>8012355
Never let me go was some lame boring shit. They must have taken out everyone's balls or those tools would have revolted for being organ fodder. Effete, weak, and soft.
>>8010742
is the joke that its all shit?
>>8012457
bnw is more realistic though
a system like in 1984 cannot exist for very long being not effective, as mikhail veller laughed at 1984 saying he imagined how those spying devices, telescreens, would be properly repaired and replaced in a society like that
now, the world in bnw is effective...
1984 is largely a criticism of the soviet system, while bns of the western capitalism, the soviet system could win a few countries but eventually collapsed while capitalism won the whole world
the only questionable part of bnw it's eugenics and its efficiency, but if omit it we hardly even can call bns an anti-utopia
>tfw read non-fiction a lot
>want to write a novel in genre-fiction
>in order to do so, need to read a lot of genre fiction
>don't want to waste my time on that
ugh.
>>8012880
>calling my 4 OCD, Autistic hours work of love and dedication shit
Get out fagget
>>8012882
>the only questionable part of bnw it's eugenics and its efficiency
how so?
>>8012882
>would be properly repaired and replaced in a society like that
I can kind of see the point but its not like the neighbor woman kitchen sink,its implied that all shortages are faked to keep people suffering.overall the whole setting is more there as a metaphor than as a sustainable society,hell in not being sustainable can be seen as part of the delusion in the story
>>8012916
Why don't you actually read the best it has to offer? It's a rich aesthetic, but it doesn't seem like one on the surface.
>>8012923
He's talking about the awful list he made
>>8012922
Oh yes, I do that every once in a while. It sure has many good things. But I feel like I need to completely invest my mind into various universes that are not as good and explore them in order to understand the skills required. Every good author of genre-fiction had a vast knowledge of existing fantasy or sci-fi.
>>8012923
I truly am. I have natural talent for it, but writing takes 70% of work and 30% talent. Everything I ever wrote were papers, essays, critiques and good short stories.
For example, I believe George R. R. Martin lacks the natural talent for writing. What he has are extraordinary aquired writing skills, patience and puts a lot of hard work and knowledge into his novels, the results of a lot of discipline and research, but they still lack the magical touch. Which is still good.
>>8012919
it strongly goes against the morals and therefore would have a lot of opponents so such a system could hardly be set and supported for a while without force... it's not even the most important objection though. the main problem it's how a caste system is sustainable in practice. adding chemicals to affect the development of babies could work but probably pretty unpredictably, some epsilons could be mutilated physically while still possessing full intelligence, possibly higher than most of alphas, and what's more important, the sleep education is crap (it was actually tried btw) with no clear results, brainwashing works only to an extent and there would be inevitably a lot of betas (their development wasn't hindered by chemistry btw and they didn't take drugs as much as epsiolon) who would be unsatisfied that they can never get the job of alphas... i would predict some kind of beta revolution, lol
as for 1984, shortages in a planned economy are eventually inevitable
>>8012952
Looking at the main influences of my favorite sf writers you don't really need that much of it. And most of it isn't terribly long.
>>8012952
I really think it's not that hard to acquire the kind of working knowledge necessary. It's not like you need to dive hip-deep into AE Van Vogt or whatever. Understand the historical currents driving f&sf. Be familiar with the really important things that are getting nominated for important awards, and the good authors. And read the stuff that's actually well-written and thoughtful. It's especially useful in fantasy, where like 70% of fantasy can be entirely ignored.
It might also be very useful to read some more critical works. In particular, the Encyclopedia of Fantasy and Encyclopedia of SF are both online in full and both are extremely, extremely good. You could also read your people like your Darko Suvins, Norman Spinrad, M John Harrison, Gary Wolfe, Brian Aldiss, those sorts of things. Very good and thoughtful people.
>>8012964
Now that I think of it, reading a lot of philosophy, history, linguistics and then all of a sudden writing original fantasy is a patrician way.
>>8012974
Well, you should still read good fantasy, because good fantasy is often very good, and engaging with that kind of thing will improve your own writing. But that's more coming off of RA Lafferty and John Crowley and Gene Wolfe and Branch Cabell, not Sanderson.
(Branch Cabell HAS to be the most patrician writer /lit/ never talks about - certainly in fantasy)
>>8012982
Next on my list is Once and future king. Is that good?
>>8012952
>George R. R. Martin
people who shit on martin have not read true hacks.I do think he has good constraction skill but he has been half assing it and has no real endgame
>Everything I ever wrote were papers, essays, critiques and good short stories
that can be a problem, even if you have a good story it turns to shit if you can't convey it right.
>>8012964
>important things that are getting nominated for important awards, and the good authors.
ha, most "important awards" are given to crap books. starting with roots can result in making of an outdated product and not knowing most of the tricks/popular stories will result in your story having some overlapping concepts and your book as divergent to someones hunger games. good move would be to read famous authors who had 1 successful series while all their other stuff turned to crap.also consulting well read people because reading enough fantasy would take you years.
>>8012998
I like to think that the endgame is an all-out war against the Others, with the dragons playing the part of the Eagles in LotR; but then again, the political focus on the story just means that it could keep going forever since characters constantly get killed and new ones introduced.
>>8012997
Other people like it more than me but it's worth reading.
>>8013013
1) The Hugo and Nebula are mostly very good, certainly before the year 2000; the World Fantasy Awards are VERY, very good. These are not the Oscars. The WFA in particular are given out by people who really, really know their shit.
2) Roots are important for giving an understanding of the basic concepts of a genre, especially in a case like science fiction where the genre is still quite young. Yeah, obviously if you're trying to write a YA dystopia or an epic fantasy series, you should read stuff that's more relevant to those subfields, but that was not the sense that I got from the anon in question.
3) I am very well read in fantasy and science fiction. I am exactly the kind of person who you are recommending be consulted. And this is what I'm telling you.
>>8013071
big epic war would go against the tone he had so far.ultimately I think danny will never make it to westeros and will just settle down where she is,arya will not get revenge,etc and the point is that sometimes life does not work out as expected,the whole cast is just a set up for some other heroic story, that or it will have a rushed ending where arya kills 10 people because by some contrivance they are all in the same room and other stuff like that.When he introduced the new dragon prince I lost any doubts I had.
>>8013075
>3) I am very well read in fantasy and science fiction. I am exactly the kind of person who you are recommending be consulted. And this is what I'm telling you.
you are telling him to read more. I meant it more as anon running by concepts to make sure he did not reinvent the wheel.
>Roots are important for giving an understanding of the basic concepts of a genre
some aspects of it have fallen out of use,are played out or so moldy no one will pick it up.knowing the roots only helps when you have info about modern works and can trace the change/decline/shift of taste. I found that all this is usually secondary and most new writers have problems with keeping basic cohesion,pacing,not being repetitive and not having your agenda/interests derail the story
Is the sequel of this any good?
I fell in love with this book.
Okay, followup question to >>8011383
does this modification make the symbolism too thick?
>the "sewer serpent" isn't in the temple, she brings the iphone home
>that night as she's using it the serpent appears in her room and demands repayment
>she offers to return the phone but he says it's too late to do that.
>he asks if a city girl has ever seen the stars, and when she looks up she sees a single light in the sky brighter than any other
>a meteor is coming, and she is the target. The sewer serpent can save her, but to do so she must pledge her service, any request and it is done
>the iPhone she stole has become a literal apple
>"make a pact, bite the apple"
>end of chapter one
>>8013252
I don't think many people read it.
>>8013299
that is nice to know at least.
I just really liked the universe Miller built.
>>8010109
so what does lit think of Gordan R Dickson?
>>8013340
Never heard of him desu
>>8013425
he did his main body of work in the 70s/80s but unfortunately never got hugely popular, I loved his childe cycle series, it's about what happens when humanity collonizes the stars, and each planet takes radically different paths forward, like one is a mercenary planet, there's a psychology planet, a religious planet etc. and what happens when the next step in evolution appears, and takes it in their heads that they should be in charge
I thought that said suicide fiction and got really excited
why do we even have a pleb general
>>8013438
do i need to start at dorsai! or are they stand alone novels?
My favorite sci-fi books are, in no particular order:
>the Foundation series
>Time enough for love
>Valis trilogy
And
>The Sirens of Titan
>Fahrenheit 451
I like many books, but I always come back to these if someone asks what's my favorite. What would /lit/ recommend me to pick up?
Finished This Immoral and In Greens Jungles. Zelanzy was pretty decent, Wolfe great. Going to read starship troopers because I've never read any of Heilen, Clarke, Asimov
>>8012880
Ignore it, the guy's retarded. He can't take the hint that he's posted it in a dozen threads and no one's added it to the OP.
>>8013273
>does this modification make the symbolism too thick?
Yes, by like two orders of magnitude.
Starship troopers is pure ideology.
Prose is extremely barebones. It really needed more work.
1.) I started writing a short story a few hours ago. It's about a seed drifting on the wind that lands on a volcanic island and struggles to grow into a reproductive success. It has to deal with a caterpillar, obligate root hemiparasites and the inevitable lava flow.
2.) Are there any sci-fi novels that focus on biology? I'm talking about creatures and their habits and such. Stephen Baxter wrote a book called "Evolution" that goes into it and I've already read "Last and First Men".
>>8013996
Oh well, the story's kind of fucked anyway since im too uncomfortable writing about brand name products to tell it the way I had it. Ill change it up a lottle and start over
>>8012955
>adoing chemicals to impair the development of babies is a frightening vision of the future
What are estronegenics, mercury, lead, vaccines, mongrelization, water fluoridation
It's already happening
>>8012753
>still haven't read Broken Eye yet
One of these days.
Looking for a good audiobook.
Any recommemdations?
I don't want to make a thread that would probably get lost, and I'm sure you people should know.
What are some good FICTION books about board games? Involving board games. Maybe tournaments and all that. Fantasy, Sci-Fi or not.
k thanks
>>8015247
I've never read any of these but:
Player of Games by Iain Banks
Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
The Empty City by Andrew Looney
>>8014607
It's not that great to be honest.
>>8015299
Isn't player of games part of a series?
>>8014932
Hyperion is particularly well done. Different narrator for each of the primary characters.
>>8015332
just like chessmen of mars, lol
>>8015332
Culture series but they're all effectively standalones. It's arguably a better book to start with than Consider Phlebas anyway.
>>8015332
Its a Culture novel. They're set in the same universe but not a series at all.
Chessmen of Mars IS part of a series but I don't think reading the previous four books are totally necessary.
>>8015303
I heard it had a lot of filler.
>>8015394
Yep, it also has a lot of unnecessarily edgy bullshit
>>8013252
The sequel is only partially written by Miller, if I remember correctly. Mostly written by his son. The sequel is not so great. Really rough.
But goddamn though, that first book is one of my all-time favorites.
>>8015642
PTSD and depression did fuck him up.
Too bad, I feel as if he had lived longer he might have written something ourselves the one and a half novel.
On another note seems like all plebs have gone to the fantasy general.
Why is there so much YA fantasy garbage and who the hell is buying this stuff so retards make more money for copying LotR?
Alain Damasio is the best living sci-fi author
Halfway through Starship troopers.
It's so preachy and so dumb that he makes things I in many ways agree with insufferably stupid.
It's Ayn Rand tier.
>>8016138
it has a pretty good albeit brief criticism of marx's theory of value
>>8016138
Heinlein is probably the shittiest ""classic"" SF author and I hope he drifts into obscurity.
>>8012882
You do make a good argument anon.
I only got 80 pages into the first book of this (around the rush of white cats into the baroness's room) before I put it down since I was finding it not really to my liking.
If possible without giving to much away what does it turn into?
>>8016251
Gormenghast is the second volume, Titus Groan the first.
Basically if you like modernism, haunting atmosphere, well written characters and don't mind slowness of the plot you'll like it.
Could some kind Anon recommend some blend of historical fiction and fantasy, in the vein of Stephenson's Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle?
>>8016519
>fantasy
I meant science-fiction of course. Though I guess The Baroque Cycle fits both.
>>8016519
You might like pic related. The first 3/4 takes place before the modern era. It follows the lives of some immortals, culminating in a space voyage.
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis would be another possibility. It's about a researcher who travels to the Middle Ages.
>>8016566
It would help if I actually pic related...
>>8016519
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Eifelheim by Michael Flynn
Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
From Time to Time by Jack Finney
Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
The Plague Tales by Ann Benson
The Difference Engine by William Gibson
Household Gods by Judith Tarr
Time and again by Jack Finney
In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
47 by Walter Mosley
The Mongoliad: Book One by Neal Stephenson
1632 by Eric Flint
The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Earth Will Shake by Robert Anton Wilson
Emperor by Stephen Baxter
The Map of Time by Félix J. Palma
The River of No Return by Bee Ridgway
The Time Travelers by Linda Buckley-Archer
Sent by Margaret Peterson Haddix
The Moon and the Sun by Vonda N. McIntyre
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming
Shadow hawk by Andre Norton
The Prestige by Christopher Priest
Doctor Mirabilis by James Blish
1633 by Eric Flint
The Madman's Daughter by Megan Shepherd
The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
I'm reading Viriconium and wow, it feels so nice to actually have to engage with what I'm reading to get more out of it. I don't enjoy it as much as Wolfe but the writing is so good bah gawd.
So now that a pure fantasy general has proven viable, this should be shifted into a pure sci-fi thread.
>>8016683
No. This will be the general for people who aren't plebs. The only thing which happened is that the Sandersonfags, the Bakker shills and the rest of tasteless morons have moved there.
>>8016594
Be a bit more detailed. I'm interested in hearing more about it, but your description is pretty scarce considering it's an author to my knowledge never mentioned before.
>>8016711
>The only thing which happened is that the Sandersonfags, the Bakker shills and the rest of tasteless morons have moved there.
Right, the fantasy fans. I don't know why we'd keep the thread including fantasy and risk them coming back.
>>8016683
There was no question of fantasy alone being viable. Most discussions in the general were fantasy. The issue is that Sci-Fi alone is not viable.
...and SFF is all the same genre anyway.
>>8016733
Because there are plenty of pretty great fantasy works often discussed here and it would be unfair to those works to split them from good sf. Gormenghast, half of Wolfe, Tolkien, Lewis, lots of Zelanzy and the rest of the quality crew shouldn't be forced into the pleb general.
Currently reading Book of the New Sun.
Fucking awesome, after that I'll read Malaz, I already bought the book and looked at how many chapters are, I like to have a specific amount of chapters (or pages, if the book doesn't have chapters) to read everyday, i.e. I read 3 chapters of BoTNS everyday, Gardens of the moon only has 24 chapters, is reading one chapter a day logical? I've heard this is a "hard" book to get into, so I don't know if reading at that pace will be a good idea.
>>8016784
It's hard to get behind all the subtext and requires attention and active reading, but no more than with any other good modernist novel. It's not hard to enjoy on the other hand and now there is a decent amount of scholarship on it so you can patch your holes within an hour or two of reading.
>>8011215
I finished it in multiple sittings and it's pretty mediocre with a few okay moments, but nothing that you've not seen or read before with better execution
Shadow is a boring af character, and the 'cybergods' should make Gaiman cringe in the shower
>>8016815
I stopped at the muslim effet fiery semen blowjob scene
>Currently reading Foundation. I'm almost done and I've enjoyed it immensely thus far.
Even though psychohistory is not taught, what's stopping someone from examining patterns in galactic history and developing an equation? The Foundation is composed of some of the brightest minds in the galaxy, so I would think someone could put two and two together.
2/3 in Starship Troopers and it's like two completely different books- a juvenile retarded philosophy pamphlet and a rather solid insight into military life with a bit of flavor from the rather irrelevant and replaceable space bugs.
>>8014171
Share what you have of your story? sounds interesting.
As for recommended books, not really good novels but you might enjoy speculative evolution books with their pretty pics such as Expedition by Wayne Barlowe, After Man, and Man after Man by Douglas Dixon. I also enjoyed Dragon's Egg by Robert Forward.
>>8014171
ughm, west of eden?
Heinlein just called The Republic communist.
Jesus Christ it's a book full of stupid shit, but this is the lowest point he fell to thus far.
>>8014171
The Time Machine to some extent i guess.
>>8016872
For the first 100 years, everyone was thaught only hard sciences, and you can hardly apply them to a mental/sociological field. Even less when nobody even saw the need for it.Keep going.
Starship troopers triggered me so much I reviewed it, fucking hell
>>8016872
i never got what's so good about that book anyway, it's full of unrealistic crap to the extreme
i was tempted to drop it when i read how some noble (!) flied on a space ship (interstellar btw) and was astounded that the foundation could operate a nuclear reactor (!)
i see than the nuclear reactor was the cutting edge of science when asimov wrote the book while the space ship for him was just a plot device which could as well be a magical teleportation, but it makes the book hilarious
>>8014607
Where is night side???
>>8015989
>LOTR was the first fantastical novel ever written, and anyone who writes fantasy is ripping them off
I really hope old fuck grandpas like yourself gtfo with your literal autism.
So I'm writing a fantasy novel and trying to come up with a couple religions. I've got a nature religion and possibly a religion around mutation for the degenerates but I can't really come up with others. I really want to avoid a pseudo-Christian religion because that's way too fucking vanilla.
>>8017004
Or be hardcore and do a tolkienwolfe Catholic shill
>>8017004
Just take the ones you have and do something interesting with them.
>>8017004
Look for some obscure religion in africa and subvert it. I can't tell you how it fucking pissed me off when I read a book and found out it was Christian /Hindu/ Greek/ Egyptian gods, dressed up in some fancy robes and given a pseudonym.
>>8016974
Asimov states in the book that the ships run on nuclear power I believe
>>8016967 I inherited the boxset from my dad so I'll definitely give the others a read.
>>8016892
Well, Heinlein was in the military, so it was hard for him to fuck that part up. Unfortunately, he wasn't a great mind.
>>8017166
Wasn't a great mind is an understatement of the century
>>8016711
>it's an author to my knowledge never mentioned before
I have mentioned Harrison in the past but not enough for him to become a meme. He added a Viriconium FAQ to his blog recently:
(1) Read as one book, not as three novels followed by a collection of afterthoughts.
(2) Freely intersperse the short stories between the novels.
(3) The novels can be read in any order, but order of publication makes a kind of sense if you are bound by expectations of linear time & causality.
(4) Start with “Viriconium Knights” if you need a readily-assimilable f/sf rationale for what’s going on in the rest of the book.
(5) Other rationales are available.
(6) Random dipping is just as effective an archeology. All beginnings are endings. Every reiteration is the (not an) original iteration.
(7) It is a metafictional critique of “epic” fantasy.
(8) It is a deconstruction of “epic” fantasy.
(9) It is a conscious disruption & abjection of the American ideological overmyth “Hero with a Thousand Faces”.
(10) It hates story. It hates the idea of character as fixed & causal. It hates relatability. It hates reader-identification. It hates the idea that because the real is disordered, fiction’s duty is to provide order; it hates the anodyne mouth-feel & simultaneous shrill desperation of ordering fictions. It hates immersive texts because immersion defuses political & social dissatisfaction.
(11) Read “A Young Man’s Journey to Viriconium” last. Or see (14).
(12) Titles, epigraphs & chapter headings are often significant parts of the text, so if you’re reading something framed as The Floating Gods, you aren’t reading Viriconium.
(13) Every available edition is problematical in terms of content, organisation & packaging.
(14) There is a new, as yet unpublished story.
>>8017748
So very meta. And the key for any author here is spamming with at least some helpful comments, if you think he's good enough a few weeks should do it.
>>8017748
>It hates story. It hates the idea of character as fixed & causal. It hates relatability. It hates reader-identification. It hates the idea that because the real is disordered, fiction’s duty is to provide order; it hates the anodyne mouth-feel & simultaneous shrill desperation of ordering fictions. It hates immersive texts because immersion defuses political & social dissatisfaction.
Sounds like an incredibly pretentious cunt.
>>8017783
But has the possibility of being good too
>>8010109
Post sci fi and fantasy related image next time, there are no upvotes to be had here.
Shame all you faggots didn't boycott this thread before it got big.
>>8017866
I like having a relatively fast thread instead of 10 simultaneous slow ones with 10 responses.
Next time you'll get an even shittier memr
>>8016894
I've only got two paragraphs done, not even.
I'm busy with my short story that's turning into a novel. I own original copies of Expedition, After Man, and Man After Man. Dragon's Egg is one I've been reading as of late. Thank you for your suggestions, though!
>>8016898
I'm in the middle of that one. It's kinda lackluster, desu ;3;.
>>8016923
Loved that one, I'm looking for more recent works, though.
>>8017000
He's clearly not an old fuck grandpa, or else he'd realize that 90% of the best fantasy was written pre-tolkien, and LOTR led the downfall of fantasy
>>8016711
>it's an author to my knowledge never mentioned before
M. John Harrison is one of the triad of contemporary literary SFF: Wolfe-Delany-Harrison. I'm surprised he isn't mentioned more on /lit/.
>>8017896
Strange how something magnificent and so subtle could inspire a movement of derivative "world building" trash. Modern fantasy is insufferable because it's an emulation of superficial elements of Tolkien with prose for mongoloids and a focus on the plot because it's hard to be concentrated on words if they aren't plot.
>>8017915
I didn't read Delany yet.
He sounds interesting, but I'll be taking a break from sff for a while, need to read up on Aristotle and Aquinas asap. He'll probably be the first thing I read after finishing Book of the Short Sun.
>>8016711
Tell me if theSolarians in Foundation are actual aliens, you shitnugget.
>>8017930
I actually didn't read any Asimov yet. Or Clarke. Never touching Heinlein again. Delany after Wolfe is top priority.
>>8017957
>Delany
Better not be the author of that shit Dhalgren
>>8017875
Nah, I just don;t read these threads
Just a shame that such a small board gets shitted on from no good contributors like yourself
>>8018006
Because you are so better than us right?
>>8018043
Fuck off retard I said what I had to say
>>8018066
Do you want the cock now or later?
Finally reading through ASoiaF for the first time. On the fifth book now, and can someone please tell me why I'm so annoyed at the chapter titles switching to titles instead of the character's actual name? I mean, it makes sense for Theon and Arya, and it helps avoid accidental spoilers, so is it just my autism?Also, does he not have an editor to stop him from using the phrase 'much and more' three times a chapter?
What's some good fantasy that's neither epic fantasy nor 30+ years old
>>8018146
Would Simmons' Ilium count?
>>8017930They are not,you should read The Naked Sun. Actually, start with Caves of Steel. Do I have to spoonfeed you everything?
>>8018146
I decided to be hip and buy something written in the last 10 years (well, Hastings was cleaning stuff out to the tune of 70 cents).
Interesting?Definitely!
Enjoyable?Maybe not
>>8018146
John Crowley - Ægypt series
Tim Powers - 'Declare'
>>8010109
>Currently reading Caves of Steel.
I'm genuinely surprised at how bad Asimov's prose is. Maybe it has to do with the fact that two of the last three books I read were by Arthur C. Clarke (Childhood's End and Rendezvous with Rama).
Both of the steampunk recommendations are YA. I know Perdido has steampunk elements but it seems overly sexual for my taste from the excerpts I read.
>>8019102
What's so bad about it?
Just asking, I haven't read it.
>>8019192
It's overly marxist, too preachy and has shit characters. It's one of those novels that are 3 times as large as they should have been, but the author draws it out because big fantasy sells.
Guys since the thread has been purged, we need a new fantasy recommend chart.
Also a new flowchart.
What do you think should be in it? Place your votes.
>>8017977
It's supposedly his worst work or something. Was planning on reading Nova and Babel 17 first because they are shorter.
>>8011843
>ideas are actually very cheap. everything depends on the execution.
This isn't always true though, a lot of the times it's just luck.
I just noticed there's two threads and both have 100+ posts
Epic
>>8019700
My Cera memes aren't appreciated.
The plebs also swarmed that thread, Sanderson morons are back
>>8019613
>>8010109
Does anyone else for some weird reason find him extremely romantically attractive in this picture?
So what is wrong with brent weeks?
>>8019773
Trashy action flick shit
>>8018146
Vurt by Jeff Noon
>>8019773
He's insistent on shoehorning in 2edgy4you bullshit it what's actually a pretty fun series. I've only read the Lightbringer books though, his other stuff could be different.
>>8018146Most of Gene Wolfe
But I haven't really read that much fantasy across different authors so my knowledge is limited. But I'll take this chance to say Golden Age is pretty decent.
>>8019775
>Because the ginger drummer gave me a massive boner
Nah, it's definitely his eyes.
>>8020070
He'd probably make a solid trap
>>8020086
also interested to hear
>>8019240
Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the story. It's just that some sentences sound like a middle schooler wrote them. I'd pick out examples, but I'd rather finish first. Will review soon.
>>8020774
And yes, I am aware of the irony of this post.
>tfw finished Book of the New Sun, Long Sun, and Short Sun
Gene Wolfe is a madman
Any recommendations?
of the ten most recent books on my kindle I have dropped 5 of them. That does not include the two I returned in the past 24 hours. The criteria I consider for books are fucking ridiculous and includes aesthetic, the climate location and time period of the setting, the cover, the writing style, the concept, the genre and sub-genre, can't be billed as a romance or YA and if it's over 20 years old I probably won't consider it due to an alarming amount of "old" scifi and fantasy I despised as a child
>>8018126
>does he not have an editor
Is that not clear after reading the fourth and fifth books?
I think ASOIAF was originally meant to be a trilogy which is why the later ones are so chaotic.
>>8024176
I know they aren't related really, but any input in what order I should read these SF novels in? Can't decide.
- Lord of Light
- Childhood's End
- Blindsight
- Stars My Destination
Holy fuck, the German cover of the second Farseer book uses the exact cover of this http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/91981.The_Dragonbone_Chair book, except it has "Robin Hobb" on it. How did no one notice this?
>>8025226
Picture related
>>8025199
>>8024319
It was supposed to be the same story, but shorter.
The first volume would have covered about the same ground as books 1-3 of the seven-part series. I remember pics of Martin's original outline for the first book being posted somewhere. The only big players were Starks, Lannisters, Daenerys and Night's Watch/White Walkers. No Stannis, no Greyjoys, no other stuff.
Then it was supposed to be six books with a time gap of a few years between them but the gap idea was scrapped in favor of another book and Martin lost the plot at that point, which is why things got considerably messier after the third book.
>>8025238
Authors generally don't decide what goes on the cover of their books, and I'm pretty sure even those who do, generally don't decide what goes on the covers of foreign language versions of their books.
>>8025240
tfw I decided to forever stop reading it after 3.
A decade ago
Feels good
I love Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. I'm looking for a good collection with extra materials (interviews, essays, maps, notes, whatever). Does such a thing exist?
>>8025210
>- Lord of Light
Easily one of the best SF novels. It has all the cool things about sf in general, space Buddha and superhuman hindu gods. But it also has quite well done characters, conflict of ideas and a strong theme which Zelazny often employs, faith as scam, but a scam which makes men human and which is necessary to our existance.
>- Childhood's End
Didn't read
>- Blindsight
Didn't read
>- Stars My Destination
A fun ride for some people. I didn't enjoy it as much, but like all good pulp it deals with stuff at least marginally and has a decent plot.
Go with Lord of Light for sure.
>>8025395
I listened to the audiobook, it has Gaiman for introduction. He did good introductions.
>start reading Vacuum Diagrams as your first Xeelee everything
>read the first story last night before sleep
>was pretty neat
What can I look forward to?
>>8024176
anon, did you copy and paste my autism? I know for a fact I didn't post this in this context
>>8025475
that map looks like a shitty imitation of tolkien
>>8025506
How so?
>>8025508
the badly drawn women around it are a large part of it
>>8010846
what is the ordeal
>>8025527
das it mane? cumon step it up
![io9Cover[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/6Q4IMi9.jpg "io9Cover[1].jpg")
>>8010109
>Never read Butcher
>Hey I should give this a chance
>Badly written and cliched prologue with incredibly annoying strong womyn character.
>Reddit "Cats are Assholes" meme cat character.
>Cat is a POV character
>Reads like a reddit thread.
>Not reading Butcher again.
Just finished this up. Seems like a pretty good start to a series.
>>8025627
Why did you expect any different honestly? I mean it's what you'll hear from most people here who show taste with other likes and dislikes.
What are some good albums and songs about good sff?
We have Tiger Tiger! on Stars my Destination and Nightfall in Middlearth on Silmalirion by Blind Guardian.
>>8025700
*tips*
>>8025725
You have a new spam pic cosmerefag
>>8010109
>tfw listening to fantasy audiobooks at work every day
Shit's mad comfy. I can't actually listen to anything legitimately good since I've got to put most of my thought into my work, but the Dresden Files are fun to break up the monotony.
In Redemption Ark, what was the meaning of the name "Zodiacal Light"?
>>8025782
I don't even know what that image is.
>>8025782
No, not him. This is art for Book of the New Sun, one for each book.
Anybody here read Paul Kemp or Howard Andrew Jones? I've seen them both mentioned as modern Sword & Sorcery.
>>8025238
congratulations. you've just proven how far your head is up your ass.
>>8025210
i'd recommend
lord of light, this is one of my favorite books.
stars my destination, bester is great
childhood's end, good ideas but execution is kind of clunky
blindsight, haven't read it but the comments here have been lukewram
>>8025816
What the actual fuck am I looking at
Hey /lit/, what's the coolest alien invasion books?
>>8026210
submission by houellebecq
>>8026301
kek
Finished Dhalgren today.
Read all of these. They are shit, avoid.
Can someone give me a mediafire link for the book of the new sun epub? Im out of the country with only an ipad so i cant torrent :c
>>8026420
read the pinned thread
>>8026416
>Dying Earth
>Elric
>Tolkien
>Gormenghast
I can only assume you're using reverse psychlogy to shill.
>>8026416
Given that you have Conan, Elric, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, and the Mars series on there... maybe you just don't like Sword & Sorcery. That's fine, but it just means it's a subgenre of fantasy you don't like, and means you probably aren't the best person to judge it.
>>8026416
I thought Hitler was dead, but then here he is posting on lit.
>>8026416
Look, trolling is more fun if you at least respond to the people who've fallen for it. Try to string them along further and make them angrier.
>>8026416
This list offends me.
WHY DID YOU ALTER THE ASPECT RATIO ON THOSE COVERS SO VIOLENTLY?
Looks terrible. Fix it and report back.
Dont forget Siri.
is the /lit/ selected fantasy books in the imgur poster accurate? Would you guys recommend readig all those?
Ive been reading shit tons of japanese light novels and have run out of good ones to read so i want to read some real ones now. The only fantasy novels ive read were the riftwar series and song of fire and ice (besides hp and lotr). is it reliable to just pick random ones from tat poster and start reading? I wont be dissapointed right?
>>8026416
Well, I agree that The Lies of Locke Lamora is complete crap, and I'm sure a couple other books on there are as well, but there's also some very good stuff on there so either we have very different tastes or you're trolling. Assuming it's the former, what fantasy books/authors do you like?
>>8026696
Tell us what you want and we can probably help you narrow it down, since fantasy is really, really fucking broad.
Do you want another big, epic, sprawling thing like A Song of Ice and Fire? Stories about one or a couple roguish scamps on misadventures? Is it important to you to have a detailed world with a map at the beginning?
One more thing that might help: What non-fantasy do you like?
>>8026696
Read descriptions of the books first, there's a big range of stuff on the selected chart.
>>8026416
There is no pleasing /sffg/, guy makes a list and people say he is trolling because books they like are on it.
That means when I say I like first law, name of the wind, sanderson, and asoiaf and people say it's shit that means they are trolling too.
What hapens when
>>8026784
Anon didn't just say "hey, I don't like these." Anon is actively trying to prevent others from reading books they very well may like, and behaving as if they're objectively bad.
>>8026784
>That means when I say I like first law, name of the wind, sanderson, and asoiaf and people say it's shit that means they are trolling too.
No, those books really are shit. Raise your fucking standards, anon.
>>8026796
Like what you dinosaurs do with urban fantasy??
>>8026810
I don't necessarily oppose all urban fantasy. I think Dresden Files is okay, even if I wish the writer was better at the actual writing (that is, his storytelling is good, but his word choice is sometimes awkward and I don't always find his style engaging). I actually like Felix Castor.
And while it's comics, not /lit/, I think Hellblazer is a masterpiece of a series.
>>8026810
Oh look, the dated anon is back
:^)
>>8026674
;_;
>>8026416
>its this guy again
>>8025725
The Sword have a few songs inspured by Howard and Vance (The Frost Giants Daughter and The Dying Earth.) Hawkwind are closely associated with Michael Moorcock and he writes lyrics for them sometimes. Electric Wizard have loads of songs inspired by Lovecraft, Howard, Smith and other Weird Tales writers.
just finished Liminal States.
I thought the that central science-fiction element was pretty interesting, as were the time-jumps. The ending wasn't abrupt but I was surprised that it ended when it did (reading on the kindle so i had no idea how much of the book was left)--it seemed like it should have had a whole other act. The writing seemed a little too verbose. Almost like he was tossing in lots of impressive-sounding words in an attempt to seem deep and intellectual.
thoughts? in general, i don't have a good hold on how people here view SA. i'm not a goon myself but i enjoy the frontpage updates and Zach's That Insidious Beast series was what prompted me to pick up the book in the first place.
>>8026708
I wish i knew what im looking for in a fantasy but i havent read enough to know. I only really read japanese light novels and even if ive read a broad range of ose theyre all sort of similar.
I would like to say i would enjoy any type of fantasy or other genre thats "good" but good is subjective i guess. I do prefer stories where the characters grow and develop though. For example, the arya pov chapters in song of fire and ice were my favorite, seeing how she grew and changed because of her circumstances and also because of her adventures. I did enjoy reading the series though from most of the characters perspectives. i thought eveything was very detailed which is a plus.
I actually didnt really enjoy lotr. I thought the characters were very shallow and robotic. They seem to only act in a way that pushes the story along rather than have individual wills.
I hardly look at maps if theyre available, i just go along with the descriptions in the story, but that doesnt mean i dont like good world building guess. It may not be as big a factor though.
I found all both of the Dragonlance original trilogies at a yard sale last week. Should I read them or drop them off at the local library donation box and hope they dont get shredded?
I appreciate your opinion, my free time is not valuable.
>>8026876
You might like Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser.
>characters are interesting
>follows two friends as they go on adventures
>over time, they change as people
>world isn't obsessed over in the story, but is consistent and clearly thought out
>fun as fuck
Also, if you haven't read the light novels that inspired the anime Slayers, you probably should.
