Dark worlds totally haven't gotten trite yet edition.
Recommendation
>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/
>>8122976
1st for most fun in a long time
2nd for Brent Weeks and Patrick Rothfuss
Someone leak The Great Ordeal's ebook already/
Thought I'd mention www.isfdb.org as it was quite helpful in classifying SFF books that predate standard identification numbers (SBN, ISBN, etc...).
When is soft Sci-fi bordering on Science Fantasy going to get popular again? All the ultra hard technical SciFi is so dry.
What are some good grimdark fantasies out there? Dark Souls, Berserk type stuff. Well written, with nicely crafted dark suits of armor.
One thing, as a muslim, that bothers me. Is the lack of disturbance towards the concept of terrorism in novels. Seriously, it's like nobody considers it. Especially given how little of a choice there was in whether the terrorists would be born poor and what religion they were raised into. It's terrible psychological horror shit. It's demeaning, dehumanizing, it fucks up the lives of countless forever. It erases your humanity and defeats the point of Islam in the first place. It's just, awful through and through with some positive elements.
But I don't like how it isn't explored, demeaning and terrifying labor my brothers in faith have no choice but to be put through is a concept I don't that's ever been handeled well or properly. Maybe it's me, it's a deep seated personal hatred of conflict instilled by reddit, that men's devotions to their faiths in ways that shouldn't exist in the year 2016, or just their mindless desire for purpose in the present, override our own autonomy and emotions towards others, making you feel like you don't see in them what they see in you, but just as some pests to blow up with yourself and be done with.
I don't know what I'm saying. I just wish terrorists weren't constantly written as "Brown people! That kill iin the name of Allah!", and not facing the grimey slimey disturbing bullshit dealt with is. Or how they're forced into believing its acceptable to take your own life among that of a couple more people in a flaming hot blast, that for some people, and for many people, emotionally wears off. This was even more prevalent in the past I'm assuming given the lack of education involved.
Dinosaur anon here. Is there some tumblgay user here? They were getting antsy because of the GRI APPROVED meme.
>>8123005
Someone post the dark souls, berserk meme pic.
>>8123007
A month or so ago there was a discussion why the /SFF/ general had no memes.
Seems like that changed.
>>8123010
>3, 2, 1
>>8123028
Your post was autistic as fuck and now people are going to meme it into the ground. This is 4chan; It's only to be expected.
>>8123038
>Your post was autistic as fuck
Whatever you feel like senpai.
But this is the SFF general what do you expect?
>>8122980
Yeah I agree, I was happy as a bird when I was reading that trilogy, really great.
>>8123002
It's funny because I have the opposite problem, current science fiction isn't hard enough for me.
>>8123054
You must be as disgruntled as a spook
>>8123025
I've seen it, but I was wondering if there's visceral dark fantasy that I might have missed. I'd just like to see how well the aesthetic translates to text (though it seems to work better in visual mesia).
And not to sound like an ass, other than my tripfaggotry, but I probably know more about fantasy literature than 99% of the people here (which isn't even saying much). Which is why I'm almost sure a textual Berserk equivalent doesn't exist yet.
>>8123075
>but I probably know more about fantasy literature than 99% of the people here (which isn't even saying much)
>>8122829
You haven't seen anything until you've worked as a academic librarian, you wouldn't believe how many requests we receive asking for information on "How armies fought battlefield" and then every fucking time we've got to explain that they rarely fought head-to-head and most battles consisted of hiding in a castle until they ran out of food.
>>8123095
Thanks, Hollywood.
>>8123095
>and most battles consisted of hiding in a castle until they ran out of food.
That's a siege anon.
But I get your point.
>>8123054
is there something wrong with saying
>i was x as a y
>>8123095
Does this trigger librarians a lot?
I should check into my uni's library
>>8123095
but sieges were the best part
>>8123126
Saying "I was happy as a bird" would mean that anon was happy when he was a bird. Saying "I was as happy as a bird" means that anon felt the same happiness a bird would experience.
Remember when the first sffg threads we had actually adult conversations about fantasy?
Now it's all shitposting. How are the newfags that are ruining our general?
These threads are moving too fast now desu, I should get back to reading
>>8123131
This triggers everybody in the history department, If given the choice like 80% of a freshers choose the most pop-history shit ever like military/warfare and medicine.
>>8123158
>Remember when the first sffg threads we had actually adult conversations about fantasy?
No. When was that?
>>8123138
How can you know he wasn't a bird at some time?
>>8123158
I mean that's what happens when years pass and no good books come out.
>>8123158
Welcome to summer.
>>8123172
Occam's razor
>>8123172
#BirdLivesMatter
>>8123172
r u dumb?
>>8123095
>You haven't seen anything until you've worked as a academic librarian
Would Anon happen to be versed in the arcane world of bibliographic data? Specifically the form, usage, and retrieval of MARC records?
>>8123257
>Well battles between two armies outside of fortifications did
No, no they didn't, why do you think the battle of Hastings is a literal historic goldmine?
>>8123263
Because it changed the course of British history and is a defining battle of a turning point in history.
There are plenty of examples of two armies meeting in open conflict.
>>8123002
>Science Fantasy
I want this weird subgenre to die. Hard/mid sci fi is what science fiction was intended to be
>>8123874
Soft Scifi / Science Fantasy is the best SF though.
>>8123880
t. George Lucas
>/sffg/ is a bunch of normies that go out on the weekend
No wonder this place is so garbage lately.
So, is Sabriel good? I know it's on the Fantasy Selected Favorites chart, but so is The Lies of Locke Lamora, and I found that to be one of the worst books I've ever read. Plus Sabriel is YA.
Would someone who hated The Lies of Locke Lamora, The Wheel of Time, and The Prince of Nothing potentially like Sabriel? If not, do you have any recommendations?
>>8123938
It's YA done well. That's really it, whether that's for you or not you have to decide.
Also maybe fantasy isn't for you. What DID you like?
>>8123938
Selected sf is great and selected fantasy is a fucking mine field.
But it is old enough and doesn't have a photoshop cover and doesn't appear on the best fantasy lists so the chance of it being garbage is lower.
>>8123972
Read Lions of Al Rassan then.
>>8123972
We definitely need a better fantasy chart. I personally didn't read enough to make one, or at least with diverse authors.
Is there any great Chinese or Japanese fantasy that isn't weeb YA shit.
>>8123994
Berserk
>>8123938
I'm the guy who made the chart and I don't like Locke Lamora either heh. I just made it because at the time a lot of people were asking for one
Now that I read a bit more I might edit it a bit - I don't like several picks on it / think there's better.
>>8123938
I'd say the Abhorsen series is pretty good as far as YA fantasy goes. Good enough to stand as regular fantasy at least.
I was thinking of making a chart of non-medieval fantasy books, do you anons have any picks in mind?
And when I say non-medieval, I mean it can still be a non europe-medieval setting, but anything goes, really: victorian, western, asian, middle eastern, idian, etc.
Pic related was pretty nice, I read it in spanish so I have no idea if the translation is any good, but if you want to see a fantasy version of the american conquest you cant go wrong with this one.
>>8124012
Sounds boring. Someone should make a non-space non-tropey SciFi chart instead (stuff like Never Let Me Go, I guess, but maybe a bit more SF).
>>8123994
Are you talking about Chinese/Japanese books BY Japanese/Chinese authors? Or simply fantasy books that take place in China/Japan?
>>8124022
Both work.
>>8123980
Is it better than Under Heaven? I read that one and didn't dislike it, but didn't love it either.
>>8124006
Yeah I remember those threads and the people begging for a selected fantasy chart. Yours is better than the one I made, which had a lot of stuff like Orlando Furioso and Pedro Paramo which wouldn't have been helpful suggestions for people in these threads at all. I wish you luck in updating it, if you choose to.
>>8124010
Thanks.
>>8124006
Keep in mind, fantasy plebs infest these threads much more than sf ones. I've also had bad experiences with the chart counting on things such as Wizard Knight and Gormenghast as a pointer to quality of other works, which certainly has not been the case.
We need a new one, with certified works of certain quality.
>>8123007
>It erases your humanity and defeats the point of Islam in the first place.
The point of Islam is to convert everyone to it.
Terrorism is just a means to an end.
The Prophet Muhammad spent years planning terrorist attacks on caravans heading towards Mecca.
>>8124015
SF is a bit more complicated, since non-space stuff tend to fall in other subgenres like cyberpunk or dystopian
>>8124012
I think it's a great idea.
>>8124035
Lions is his best work imo. Under Heaven I'd say wouldn't even break the top 5. Read Lions and if you like that, check out some more of his stuff. If you don't I guess you can drop the author.
>>8124046
Actually until the Russians started supporting the Arabs, "Islamic terrorism" as we know it was relatively unknown in the world.
Just look at how the Russian government is providing free airline tickets to Syrian refugees, who then get loaded onto buses and are dropped off at the Finnish, Norwegian, Polish, etc borders.
>>8124058
Thanks very much for the suggestion.
What's some arab/persian fantasy that's very heavy on the fantasy side?
>>8124043
I do like to mix some pleb stuff in-between heavy reads honestly, but some of the pleb stuff on it isn't even good as a relaxing read, so yeah. Locke Lamora just annoyed me with it's attempt at trying to force witty dialogue in every scene and the writing just didn't appeal to me in general. I'll take them off slowly as I read more.
I'll recommend The Buried Giant to you - short stand alone book and 'literary' fantasy. I really like Ishiguros prose, it manages to be very simple without feeling plain.
>>8124093
I guess you are the anon from the last thread who mentioned The Orphan's Tales, The Golem And The Jinni, Alif The Unseen, and Throne Of The Crescent Moon
can you vouch for any of these? for the chart
>>8124053
same to you, if you had to pick one of the books you mentioned, which one it would be?
>>8124093
Glen Cook's Instrumentalities of the Night series heavily borrows from the crusader period.
>>8124106
>if you had to pick one of the books you mentioned, which one it would be?
Probably Black Wolves. Though the series is unfinished.
Grace of Kings is probably the least of the ones I mentioned.
I think that recommendations should have a short description, just a cover or a name isn't too interesting.
>>8124128
cover grabs attention > google name > whoopdedoo
>>8124134
But most covers are shit, and no one is going to search for everything. The point of a recommendation chart is convincing you.
>>8124134
literally every other board has a higher standard for their recc list
>>8124106
Orphans Tales is already on the chart I think. The Golem and the Jinni isn't but absolutely should be, but since there are jewish protagonists you're going to get major opposition
Alif the unseen and Throne of the crescent moon probably don't belong there even though I did enjoy them.
>>8124143
Then go start your own board, you simpering ingrate.
>>8124161
lol yea i should be so grateful for a shitty list you threw together with MSPaint on books you didnt even read
>>8124141
No, a recommendation list is to recommend you books. It is up to you to look them up and see if they interest you.
And what kind of idiot judges a book based on its cover? Are you retarded, the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" exists for a reason.
>>8124096
>I do like to mix some pleb stuff in-between heavy reads honestly, but some of the pleb stuff on it isn't even good as a relaxing read, so yeah.
There's plenty of good easy reads, I mean that's what pulp was all about.
>I'll recommend The Buried Giant to you - short stand alone book and 'literary' fantasy. I really like Ishiguros prose, it manages to be very simple without feeling plain.
Thanks. Although I won't be reading much fantasy in the upcoming months, there is plenty of backlog at the moment. I tend to delve into few authors as opposed to reading a lot of different ones.
>>8124174
>And what kind of idiot judges a book based on its cover? Are you retarded, the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" exists for a reason.
To be fair, these days you can actually do this and not be worse off, especially with SFF
>>8124174
What I'm trying to say is that a cover or a name says nothing to you. Having a brief description makes much more sense with the purpose of the chart, as no one is going to search for literally every item on the chart to decide. With no description you basically have to judge the books by their cover.
>>8124178
If I judged books on their covers I'd have saved myself some torture.
>>8124178
No you can't and if you believe this to be true you are an idiot.
>>8124182
It is up to you to google the books, goodreads exists for this very purpose. It takes two seconds to type the name of a book into goodreads and read the description.
Stop being lazy, if it bothers you so much re-do the recommendations list and add descriptions.
For most of us taking a few seconds to look a book up isn't an issue.
>>8124182
The books are already narrowed down by being on the freaking chart though. It's like being in a book store and looking for interesting stuff, which you usually do by looking at the cover. Except, instead of having 1000+ books in front of you it's down to about 20 or so, depending on whatever chart you're looking at. Hardly a time investment to google two or three of them that look interesting and deciding which to read.
I mean that's what I do. Don't really know what issue you're having.
I need some good audio book I can listen to while working out. Something simple enough so I can follow it while I feel like I'm dying.
>>8124194
I think Gormenghast is the thing you need here.
What do you think of The Dresden Files?
>>8124198
Bad.
>>8124198
I like it.
/lit/ does not.
>>8124190
>No you can't and if you believe this to be true you are an idiot.
says the guy wolfing down shitty books
A description only helps better, but at this stage its probably better to just use the /lit/ wiki rather than the charts
>>8124182
Enjoy copying and pasting books blubs from the 500 different wikipedia articles. I look forward to reading your 'chart'.
>>8124197
Gormenghast is a great novel and a horrible recommendation for time killing audiobooks.
>>8124198
Good but the first 3 books are terrible.
>>8124205
>books blubs
*"book blurbs"
>>8124205
If you look at charts from other boards its usually one or two sentences on the basic premise and then the quality of the book. Showing you've actually read it.
I think that's worth more than a bunch of books tossed together by rabble vote with no insight.
>>8124206
>Gormenghast
Well what would be a good recommendation for time killing audio books?
Gonna repost my first attempt to remind people how horribly wrong this sort of thing can go.
>>8124222
Golden Age by John C. Wright, Conan and Elric of Melnibourne
>>8124141
>The point of a recommendation chart is convincing you
Nah. It's to provide a list of possibilities/suggestions, for you to follow up on if you want to. It's not a persuasive tool.
>>8124224
A real human being made this. It hurts.
just finished the chaos born trilogy. not the best books i have read but i really liked it.
what does /lit/ think of drew karpyshyn?
>>8124258
>video game author
Pass.
>>8124216
Again, I look forward to reading your chart. What's the ETA on that, by the way?
>>8124258
>meme effect
>>8124273
the wiki
>>8124258
You are missing Mass Effect: Deception from that series. It isn't written by karpyshyn though.
Fuck you Larry Niven, I'm on the second book and not a chapter has gone by where you haven't inserted your weird inter-species alien sex fetishes.
>>8124286
i have read it. hated it. and the reason it is not in the picture is because it is not by karpyshyn
>>8124315
Are there any templar space lesbians?
>>8124216
But this isn't true. Most charts on most other boards are just the cover, the name, and sometimes the creator and date of creation. A chart with descriptions is the exception and not the rule.
And, to echo what everyone else has said, just use Google.
>>8124315
I just need to know who built it, then I can jump off this bloody train wreck.
>>8124329
Nope, Vampires.Sex Vampires
Only one way to survive.Rish your comrades until sunrise
Niven confirmed for sex-crazed proto-furry.
>>8124351
Yiff in space my dude
>>8124368
IIRC John Ringo wrote a book where everybody turns themselves into dragons and shit with fantastic post-scarcity technology and people just grow their offspring in test tubes, but they're also all republicans so gay people aren't allowed to grow their babies in test tubes.
Just finished Hyperion/Endymion. I loved it.
Where do I even go from here?
I've read Dune. Thinking about getting into Foundation.
I like sci-fi settings as a backdrop to the characters usually.
>>8124397
Don't make me look this stuff up. It's unhealthy.
>>8124295
Oh man, if you're tired of Rishathra now, just wait until you get to Ringworld Throne.
>>8124397
Trump will make furries real.
I'll ask again
Anyone got Robert Aickman's The Attempted Rescue and/or other ebooks apart from what can be found on libgen or KAT?
>>8124680
It's not on bibliotik.
>>8124697
Thanks for looking, seems to not be online... Tartarus Press released it.
Do you like SF or F more?
http://www.strawpoll.me/10399576
>>8123054
>I just got here
Filth that doesn't know the glory of GRI.
Is there an easy way to memorize Metric? I sure would understand muh hard sci-fi a whole hell of a lot better if I could properly understand the distances and terms.Feels bad being raised on Standard.
>>8124850
Mark meters on your walls and ceilings so you can get a feel for how long they are. Set up a room with objects moving at various speeds in m/s so you can get a feel for how fast they move. Put your hand on a frying pan and increase it by 1 C periodically to get a feel for how hot it is.
>>8124920
Oh, and if you go for a jog, make sure to do it in kilometers instead of miles.
>>8124850
A centimeter is a bit less than half an inch, a meter is roughly equivalent to a yard and a kilometer is a bit more than half a mile. There, you now understand metric.
Is there an epub or PDF edition of City of Saints and Madmen kicking around?
I tried to grab it through Amazon but it said only hardcover and paperbacks are available.
>>8124850
>author uses shitty imperial units
>no idea how far anything is
Seriously why?
Only like 2 countries in the world use imperial fake units
>>8125022
irchighway #ebooks
Any new upcoming sff /lit/ is looking forward to? I'm an edgelord. Love grimdark. Can't wait for this:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/exclusive-cover-reveal-excerpt-the-burning-isle-by-will-panzo/
>>8123994
Tales of the Otori is alright
Can't really help you much since the setting is pretty unappealing to me so I tend to avoid it
>>8125441
Blood Mirror, october 25
>>8125466
Didn't make it past Black Prism, famalam. Do they get better?
>>8125477
Yes, the first book is shitty introduction typical shit introduction typical but after that the plot starts rolling more though his prose doesn't get much better and there's there's still so much shit with his works but I like it it still for the plot but his prose doesn't get better but the plot is good
>>8124850
The only way you'll really learn metric is by using it. Same as with math or reading a Vernier scale on a micrometer or whatever.
>>8125483
Can you tell me what happens during book three so I don't have to read it?
>>8125527
Gavin loses his colors Dazen dies Gavin becomes imprisoned in Dazen's old prison
Kip turns out to be full what ever the fuck all colors
Some other shit happened too I don't remember most important things
>Listening to Malazan audiobook
>Continued from where I left off, listened 2 hours
>Look at playlist
>It's the 3rd file
>I was on the 2nd
>I'd been listening for 2 hours being ahead like 8 hours
>Didn't even notice until I saw the playlist
Ehhhh
Anyone got any tips for writing fantasy?
I wrote a 200k word story about a qt loli minor count's daughter who uncovers a conspiracy by the religious order to overthrow the king, but I'm not very happy with it. When the story transitioned from her adventures to her rulership I got pretty bored of writing it.
I'm trying to plan my next story and learn from my mistakes, but I'm not even certain where I went wrong. I think I struggled writing some of the bigger world political events, and so it'd be better if I kept the next story smaller scale, but I WANT to include these things, because without giving information about the world I think fantasy can be pretty uninteresting.
Any advice?
>>8125640
Consider the way how you can include the political stuff without losing steam, is it supposed to be in the front seat or just minor details to aid context?
>>8125640
Just be yourself
>>8125640
Here's the troll answer: You don't
>>8125677
>>8125692
Thanks m80s
>>8125676
Well for the countess story, it was easy at first when I was just talking about when she saw invaders and what that meant. But when it came time for her to actually ascend the county throne and rule my story lost all momentum as well as my interest. I suddenly had to describe the burden of rulership and couldn't send her out on fun adventures anymore.
The climax is supposed to be her declaring independence from the failing kingdom for her county, but it's just not interesting to write chapters of how she administers her realm. It was a lot more fun when she was galavanting around the mysterious forest.
I've written some pretty good real world stories, and even a decent low tech sci fis (by decent I mean I'm personally happy with them), but I'm finding it difficult to keep the story moving in fantasy without having to constantly stop and explain and describe every event and its political ramifications because the reader has no frame of reference for a made-up world.
>>8125700
How does she feel about the politics? Does she enjoy it or see it as a necessary chore? Whats driving her to this action?
If its not that fun then perhaps you could just cut it and focus more on her adventures, leaving her eventual fate as more of an epilogue thing, it all really just depends
>>8125803
She started off as a young girl disinterested in politics and flawed by vanity, scorning her education as she believed that her role (she wasn't heir-apparent) was to wed a nobleman. However when the rulership is thrust upon her, she grows as a character and finds that though rulership is uninteresting, she has grown to appreciate and love her realm and its people and wants to do well by it. Hence leading to the secession.
I would be happy just to focus on adventures. My next story I'm considering just following a bunch of guys on a longship as they adventure in pursuit of plunder to take home. My biggest problem with that is that I think it's too far in the other direction: I feel like a world is necessary to ground the adventures and make it interesting.
I suppose I could simply make the world a setting without having to have huge empire-shaping events or whatever, but I'm a big fan of Hobb's style of having an underlying mystery followed by a late revelation such asin Liveship Traders when we learn that serpents are baby dragons and that the liveships are the cocoons they use to transition.Hence the religious conspiracy. I'm just struggling to find the right balance, especially since it's hard to keep fantasy stories below 100k words, or even 150k it seems.
>>8125830
It sounds like what you want is another book in itself, say you can top off her adventuring with sitting on the throne, with a second book continuing where that left off, you dont have to jam it all into one book .
>>8125849
I should also add that political machinations take a good long time to set up properly, so you really might have to consider keeping it separate if wordcount is a concern.
Was eli monpress any good? I quit about halfway through the second book mostly because other stuff got in the way. Feel free to spoil if it makes the answer easier.
>>8125849
I strongly considered that, but I'm always loathe to write sequels to my books because I basically write them for my own pleasure, and have never sought to have them published. It seems awfully self-involved to write sequels to books no one has read. My autism would let me write sequels if I had had my stories published, but I've never even tried. As such, I wanted my story to have a more satisfying ending in its own right. As it is currently, she ascends the throne because her brother (who was in line before her) has a mental breakdown and can't handle the stress, so it's not really a climax of political intrigue or anything.
>>8125854
Yeah like I said above, I wanted the story to stand on its own two feet with its own satisfying conclusion rather than relying on a sequel.
>>8125441
The excerpt reads like shit anon
Are there any good crusade-related fantasy novels? (No hifi pls)
>>8126056
Prince of Nothing is the obvious one.
The Books of Outremer by Chaz Brenchley.
>>8126056
B a k k e r
>>8122976
Can someone give me a book that has the same sort of feel as this artist?
http://www.simonstalenhag.se/
>>8126256
Not a book but Dennou Coil comes to mind. Really good show.
>>8122992
Ewww no.
They not legend.
>>8123874
Intended? No no my boy, there is no prescription for a genre , you silly thing.
Can anyone recommend some light sci-fi adventure where the author uses pretty plain language when describing scenes and characters and everything's driven more by the story? I'm almost done with Neuromancer and I can't say it left a great impression on me. The story is simplistic and the technology described doesn't sound as cool as I'm sure it did when it was written.
>>8125441
That's not very good.
>>8126256
Rate my spicy new reaction pic lads
>>8126365
Leviathan Wakes
>>8126472
That looks nice but my local library doesn't have it. Anything else?
>>8126465
>>8126144
Bakker is grimdark and edgy as fuck.
>>8126546
Is that a yes?Is he darker than George Meme Martin?
>>8125830
Why not just end the story? Half the problem with most modern series is that they just keep going when they'd be better off over.
>>8126546
That's why I'm going to skip him altogether, he seems like the best author for local plebs, but not actually good.
how 'bout the first law trilogy?
is it gud?
>>8126672
Yes.
>>8126672
It's fucking awful.
It's a soulless derivative of Asoiaf, which isn't great in the first place. It has horrible characters, with one exception, the prose is some of the worst I've ever read (it's completely depending on the reader being a person who plays video games as it has no descriptions hence the mental images aren't created by the author, but by whichever rpg you happen to play).
It's also boring, the plot is slow, the settings is dry... It's a series without almost any positives.
>>8126478
You can watch the TV series Expanse based on it, it differs a little, and only covers half of the first book so far. But it was a fun watch, waiting for season two in less than a year.
Don't know what else to suggest that fits your criteria. Maybe Century Rain or other some other standalone books from Alastair Reynolds, as he is one of my favourites, though I'm not certain if your library has those.
You can always get books digitally, or in audiobook form, if you're not too much against those options.
Tell me the name of the best Fantasy and Sci-Fi book and explain why.
Winner gets a 100 dollars, in cash. I'll track your IP.
>>8126801
Fuck off fag
>>8122976
I haven't read a lot of fantasy, but Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell is amazing historical fantasy. The build up in the first 50-100 pages can be slow for some, but it becomes so fascinating and she weaves together history with her brand of magic and stories, really amazing stuff.
Haven't read Sci fi in a while either, but PKD and Asimov are probably my favorite authors. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch will stretch your mind. And Asimov's Robot trilogy is pure genius, the detective style novels he writes within a world with androids is rich and intriguing.
>>8126801
Malazan book of the fallen.
Now go and shitpost somewhere else.
Lads I know this is autistic as fuck, but I'm seeing some underlying patterns that might make apparent why ASOIAF/GOT (the books, at least) are so popular amongst normies:
>Multiple characters are mentioned to have hair dyed in unnatural colors
>A lot of female characters that, despite being shit, still seem to attract a large fanbase because women
>Correlations between otherkinnery bullshit and skinchangers
>8th-grade level social commentary on religion
>9th-grade level perception of the middle ages
>A very "racially diverse" setting, summer islanders and all
>Sex is pervasive in the books to the point it's fucking absurd
As stated previously, all this stuff is "trendy" in the mainstream and these elements (which I haven't enumerated completely in my post) make this book's universe more relatable to a normie that has never touched another fantasy book in his life, hence the success of the setting.
Am I just overthinking things?
>>8126852
No, you're underthinking.
>>8124075
That's a load of shit.
What's more important in a /sff/ novel:
World building?
characters?
Story?
Other?
Let's hear thoughts
>>8126948
Characters are the most important in any story. Theme is underrated, and the magic, story, and world should serve to explore the theme and the characters.
>>8126951
Finally some sense in one of these garbage threads
>>8126948
story (I count something like message in this) = prose > characters >>> world building
>>8126948
All important really but without characters and story the rest will collapse.
>>8126973
That's got the point where it's actually hilarious.
Here it's merely annoying.
>>8126975
>there's no white guilt, feminism and PC preaching in his books. And yes, his works are darker than GRRM's.
Sold famalam.Do the books contain a lot of rape?
>>8126953
It's what a few of us always say when this stupid question is asked.
And yes, the threads have seen a garbage increase in the past 2-3 months.
>>8126969
Lit is for discussing books.
Int is for non pol specific shitposing.
>>8126256
>http://www.simonstalenhag.se/
Deathbird stories by Harlan Ellison
>>8126981
It contains rape, as it's edgy and grimdark. It doesn't contain a huge amount, though, as Bakker also needs to spend time on other weird sexual stuff. I don't like the books, but if you're going to read them then I hope you do.
>>8127006
>/sffg/ has a serious shitposting problem
>>8126852
/r9k/ get out.
>Want to read fantasy book without sex in it
>Only YA seems to meet this criteria
>>8127029
pls no bully
>>8125048
You're a real diamond in the rough for spoonfeeding my entitled ass.
Thank you!
>>8126852
Are you clinically retarded?
ASOIAF is popular for the same reason Dan Brown and Tom Clancy are popular - most people are uneducated morons who are incapable of judging literary quality.
>>8127095
STFU faggot
>>8127107
Eh those aren't even close to similar.
I have a real problem when writing, especially fantasy type stuff. I can't write from the point of view of women, I just can't do it. How the hell does Robin Hobb write so convincingly from the perspective of a man from childhood to old age?
>>8127257
Just imagine you're writing from the perspective of a young child
What should I read next, /lit/ ?
My friend recommended me prince of thorns. I finished it yesterday but I thought it was pretty shit to be honest.
>>8127335
Lions
>>8127335
Malazan books of the fallen.
If you want epic fantasy and can except that the first book isnt that great.
>>8127335
Lions or Hobbit
>>8127335
You've read nothing but shit so far, so try Eye of the World to keep things consistent.
>>8127352
It's bad, yes. Just look into the OP for recs.
Other bad books on that list are Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Wheel of Time and probably some more that I have never seen before.
How come people hate Mistborn but like Stormlight?
>>8127347
>Wolfefag is also >Any books like Dark Souls? fag
What a surprise.
>>8127373
Because the former is bad while the latter isn't? Pretty simple.
Mistborn is YA and one of his early works. SA is his magnum opus which he refined the most, and it shows.
>>8127363
So far all of the books in the picture I posted have come from recommendation threads + the lists I found on goodreads.
I'll give Lions a read next, but from what I've read I'm getting really hyped for Assassin's Apprentice
>>8127407
>the lists I found on goodreads.
Stay away from those.
>but from what I've read I'm getting really hyped for Assassin's Apprentice
You... really shouldn't, or you'll be disappointed. It's very slow, and nothing even happens in the first book. It's called 'Assassin' yet he never assassinates anybody.
>>8127373
Because one is awful and the other just bad so it can pass with the plebs
>>8124407
How is Endymion?
Heard its bad compared to Hyperion.
>>8123938
>The Lies of Locke Lamora, and I found that to be one of the worst books I've ever read.
B-but.. I love the Lies of Locke Lamora.
Anyone's got a better pick?
>>8127437
>Anyone's got a better pick?
Do you realize how dumb this question sounds? If not, reread it a few times and think.
You can find book recommendations in the OP.
>>8127418
>It's called 'Assassin' yet he never assassinates anybody.
>mfw
So should I read it with limited expectations or avoid it altogether?
>>8127375
>Pleb makes that sound like a bad thing
Get on my level.
>>8127437
Better pick in what way?
Quality wise it's pretty bad so there's dozens of better picks in fantasy.
>>8127452
Avoid first, unless you really want to read fantasy and have read everything usually seen as good.
>>8127452
That guy is an idiot. Fitz assassinates several people, but his primary function is diplomacy, and assassination is a last resort. With that said, Fitz is a shitty Assassin, it's simply not in his character. Fitz is an out and out, frothing-at-the-mouth Berserker by nature and fights mostly with an Axe and is *damn* good at that. Most of his actual assassinations are glossed over because they're extremely mundane. He goes somewhere, poisons someone, and comes back without anyone knowing. No frills.
>>8127452
I read the first book myself and dropped it. I'd say avoid it and just read other, good books instead.
>>8127257
>How the hell does Robin Hobb write so convincingly from the perspective of a man from childhood to old age?
She doesn't.
>>8127457
You know, the fantasy trickster protagonist
>>8127407
I tried it as audiobook, but the torrent copy was so bad I gave up almost imediately
>>8123994
Parasite Eve was good.
Chat anon make a new one out of this, we need to replace the current minefield for recommended fantasy
David Lindsay: "A Voyage to Arcturus"
E. R. Eddison: "The Worm Ouroboros"
Lord Dunsany: "The King of Elfland's Daughter"
Hope Mirrlees: "Lud-In-The-Mist"
L. Sprague de Camp: "The Compleat Enchanter"
Robert E. Howard: "Conan the Barbarian"
Poul Anderson: "The Broken Sword"
T. H. White: "The Once and Future King"
Mervyn Peake: "Gormenghast"
Fritz Leiber: "The Swords of Lankhmar"
Roger Zelazny: "The Chronicles of Amber"
John Crowley: "Little, Big"
Gene Wolfe: "Book of the New Sun"
Tim Powers: "The Anubis Gates"
Jack Vance: "Lyonesse"
Robert Holdstock: "Mythago Wood"
Barry Hughart: "Bridge of Birds"
Guy Gavriel Kay: "The Lions of Al-Rassan"
Michael Swanwick: "The Iron Dragon's Daughter"
Susanna Clarke: "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell"
Few works can be addded of couse, but no, not your Sanderson, Malazan or any of that shit.
>>8128073
>Michael Swanwick: "The Iron Dragon's Daughter"
>>8128084
Fuck off shitposter.
Achieve something like pic related or get lost, you're not funny nor refreshing.
>>8127335
>Hunger Games
>Harry Potter
What the fuck? Are we being raided by tumblr?
>>8128073
>>8128084
Looks like a good list. Some more input from others, and I can offer to whip up something if the other anon doesn't show up.
I haven't read Iron Dragon's Daughter, but I did read Swanwick's sf, and he's worth putting on a sf chart, so it may have a place on the list if other readers vouch for it.
Short descriptions would be great. I'm all for that. But then the other charts would need to be revised to keep things consistent.
>>8128073
Are you trying to trigger dinosaur anon?
>>8128073
>but no, not your Sanderson, Malazan or any of that shit.
Have you even read them? I honestly don't get people who are so obsessed with thinking that it has to be one or the other. You can read both, Wolfe and Sanderson, and enjoy both. What's the big deal
Why is the influx of good fantasy novels so defendant on Hollywood?
Any anons familiar with this book? I ran across it researching Redcaps, who are these nasty little goblins that haunt the border between England and Scotland (their caps are red because they dip them in human blood). There's nothing much about it on Google, aside from being written in 1904. Worth a punt?
>>8128175
You can like them, but they don't belong on the selected fantasy chart.
>>8128171
I'm triggered of their lack of Moorcock.
>>8128175
What's this shit about Wolfe and Sanderson?
>>8128073
The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, the man's prose game is excellent (dipping into poetry at times).
>>8128214
They're both representatives of different authoring styles, Wolfe is quality and Sanderson is quantity... or something.
>>8128161
I think Elric of Melbourne by Moorcock is not a bad addition.
Also, it doesn't have Tolkien, I'd like either Silmarillion or Chrildren of Hurin.
Is lions of al rassan actually magical, or is it just AU historical fiction?
>>8128073
I would remove "A Voyage to Arcturus," it's more SF than fantasy (and in my opinion isn't very good).
>>8128161
Man Who was Thursday by G.K. Chesterton
I'd replace New Sun with The Wizard Knight
Master and Margarita maybe?Croatian Tales of Long Ago by Ivana Brlic Mazuranic
>>8128271
I didn't make the list. I also haven't read it. We can finalize it later on. Removal of it is cool, it probably won't be missed.
>>8128240
Tolkien is sometimes too large to acknowledge, but I agree, he should be included regardless.
Elric is arguably a clone of Conan, but since he extends the subgenre's tropes to a much vaster scale, he stands on his own as a character. I would include.
I don't like Jordan, Sanderson, Rowling, Erikson, GRRM, etc, but they're widely read, so to disinclude them in an introductory chart smells like autism. Just keep them (probably segregated, lol) until newbie readers are weaned off of them.
