Thread 24626025

Recommended reading charts. (Look here before asking for vague recs)
https://mega.nz/folder/kj5hWI6J#0cyw0-ZdvZKOJW3fPI6RfQ/folder/4rAmSZxb

>Archive:
https://warosu.org/lit/?task=search2&search_subject=sffg

>Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1029811-sffg

>Previous:
>>24615650

>Thread Question:
Do you have dedicated reading time and place, or do you read wherever you can? Especially at work.

What do you look for in a story?

>>24626043
NEED samurai queen

>>24626053
Hear me out senpai:
Afro Samurai, but female

>>24626043
>black girl gets isekai'd into l5r universe and joins the crab clan
WRITE IT

>>24626061
>L5R universe

I'm getting so sick and tired of Achamian always having tears running down his cheeks for no reason.

>>24626025 (OP)
I WFH so I do a lot of reading when it’s quiet. Most of my work has lots of meetings and usually when there’s downtime between them, I’ll get a chapter or two in. It’s very comfy.

>>24626043
For fantasy specifically, I'm looking for immersion and certain tinge of comfiness (even with darker stuff like ASOIAF, which I would argue has a sense of comfiness in the slower parts). Obviously, interesting plots and characters are also very welcome but plot or character could take a backseat for me if the immersion, tone and comfiness do their job well.

>>24626025 (OP)
>Do you have dedicated reading time and place, or do you read wherever you can? Especially at work.
Been working for over a year at acomfy security guard gig, so I've read a lot. I'm starting a new job next month so I won't have as much time but at a usual job, I'll read during the morning and night before bed.

>>24626025 (OP)
I read whenever I can, the only difference is that I take my physical book with me when I go out. I also work from home, so reading during work tends to be more of an impediment because I get distracted. The one time I worked in an office though I had so little to do, I finished several books in a couple of weeks.

>new fantasy perfect for fans of George RR Martin, John Gwynne and Joe Abercrombie!
What if I'm not a fan of those specific authors? In fact, what if I hate them and want every other fantasy book for men that's published nowadays to start being almost the exact opposite of what they put out?

>>24626224
Then you read GGK and fume silently

>>24626061
You don't even need the Isekai route. Although the Unicorn would be the likeliest one to pick up foreigners and integrate them.

>>24626224
You never know what someone means by that statement. Which specific element did they like or dislike?

>>24626270
Exactly. This kind of author centered advertising isn't too far from the trope based one. In fact it's even more vague because it basically tells you nothing about what the story feels like. What if I'm a fan of GRRM's food descriptions but instead this book has a lot of rape? It's dumb.

Do Japanese write litrpg? Looking for an ero litrpg with futanari, but I believe only a Japanese writer could pull this off.

Test

>>24626397
Doujinshi don't really get translated.

>>24626403
It's not like there are too many plot heavy ones and once you've read one doujinshi you'll know the dialogue in all of them.

>>24626043
Freely available online

Lysander MUST die.

I am within the last 100 chapters of A Will Eternal. :O

>>24626025 (OP)
>tq
I read for one hour before work every day. for weekends it depends.

Been on a crime kick lately, mostly hard boiled stuff. Any recommendations for audio books that blend that with sci fi or fantasy? Not interested in dresden files.

>>24626043
aura farming

>>24626686
He must get shot into the sun

>>24627233
Asimov wrote a series of novels about a cop and his robot partner solving crimes, so Caves of Steel and its sequels. I don't know if those have audio books, but I'd assume so.

>>24627233
Larry Correia had a trilogy called The Grimnoir Chronicles.
It was so so.

>>24627242
He doesn't deserve the honor. Hopefully he asks for a final duel and instead gets shot in the head.

>>24627332
Justice for Alexander and hopefully Rhonna does it

>>24626137
Any recs, homie?

>>24626137
Malazan

>>24627360
>Rhonna does it
How, when she's dead?

>>24627568
No body = no death. the entire fall of mercury is such a clusterfuck with a 1000 things happening at once that it’s possible she escaped and is part of an inusurgency. I don’t think she would just be killed off screen without any fanfare

>>24626043
Mystery tied to the setting. I read fantasy to inhabit other worlds. I want to imagine another world and immerse myself in its history and its unfamiliarity. I want to be intrigued, I want to be hungry to learn more about it.

>>24626224
Aren't Gwynne and GRRM the opposite of Abercrombie as is? Neither of them have shitty Wheddon dialogue.

>>24628020
Gwynne has weaker dialogue than the other two by a mile. Can't write a memorable character to save his life.

>>24628020
I hate Whedon dialogue. I think its weird that so many writers think its peak literature

Anyone read Kushiel's Dart? Sounds like coom kino.

>>24628026
I feel like sometimes clever dialogue is miscategorized as whedon dialogue. Whedon dialogue is cringe, reddit-tier, snarky garbage, but some people detest it to such a degree that the prefer only the other end of the spectrum, which is drab dialogue devoid of humor. Like that lends it gravitas, or something.

Cradle seemed to have some very tolerable Whedon dialogue.

>>24628078
Words ever more only mean "signifier of a tribe I dislike".

>>24628089
Cradle is about the limit for what I can take of quippy whedonshit dialogue
I remember dropping an otherwise promising novel like a hot potato when the main character quipped at a village's cultivator, something like "Alright then, Terminator."
and of course then there was the exchange where the chinese old man misunderstood, "Temineitou?"
and I want to kill myself just writing this out

>>24628193
nta
That's unfortunate that you have such severely negative involuntary reactions. Hopefully you become less sensitive to cringe. It's a sad form of being triggered.

I try not to spam in these threads, but I am writing a fantasy story you can read for free on Royal Road about a Necromancer, loosely based on my own trip to Nepal and the Himalayas. Aside from the chapter-by-chapter release style, it doesn’t really hold any connection to webnovels. (None of the standard tropes or short chapters). It’s basically my completely normal high fantasy slop, except I liked the idea of getting readers and commenters who could throw advice at me since I’m way too cheap to ever get an actual editor.
Anyways I recently got on the rising stars list on RR for the villainous lead category, and my fiction is two chapters away from being finished with book 1, so I figured now might be a good time to share this once again here.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/93931/born-under-a-black-sun
more than one of you has advised I switch to a less modern dialogue. When I finish the last few chapters I will go back and make sure everything looks okay and works right, and I’ll try to catch dialogue that looks out of place. But I feel that overall, aping a medieval dialogue I don’t actually understand would do more harm than good.
Also: I feel like my protagonist isn’t really a villain, just a heads up. But he is a necromancer, and a few chapters in he gets in a racially motivated altercation and murders a not-indian. And because of that I had some RR readers complain that I needed a trigger warning, so uh yeah, that’s why it’s tagged as such! :]

>And I bade my own to lay her pretty toes upon my lips, and lo the maid did lay her pretty toes upon my lips, for I was very masterful unto her and she did be a naughty maid. And all this you who have been with me on all my journeyings will perceive and lend me your natural human sympathies, for all this is very natural and very human.
The entire second half of the book is just this over and over again. Is this really the best the "dying Earth" genre has to offer, or did the anti-Wolfe fag just lie to me?

>>24628241
I'm exaggerating obviously but this type of dialogue really does take me out of the story, which is why I dislike it so much. It's a lack of earnestness, like the story is afraid of taking itself seriously, like it's embarrassed about being what it is so it keeps making fun of itself.

My favorite works of fiction, literary or otherwise, are over the top gonzo shit that plays it completely straight and takes itself seriously, and that's peak, that's what the pinnacle of fiction is to me. You get a seemingly wacky premise (say, "what if breakdancers got superpowers from magic fruit") and then play it as serious as a funeral, THAT'S how you do peak fiction.

>>24626043
in no particular order

>emotionally gripping interpersonal dynamics
>dream-like and imaginative worldbuilding with lots of mystery
>complex, dimensional and multi-faceted characters
>a good sense of humor
>oozes vitality and a feeling of power in the writing itself
>a plot that is believable and compelling
>is psychological/pulpy/whimsical/romantic
>inspired by mythology and the occult/esoteric

I want stories that will make me excited, laugh, and even cry.

>>24628347
based toku fan

I think you should check out more pulp fiction, it seems right up your alley. Kamen Rider was inspired by The Stars My Destination, which was itself a sci-fi version of The Count of Monte Cristo. There's also the Gregor Samsa parallels (read Kafka) to be denoted, as well as how Ishinomori's mentor was Tezuka himself. So you'd probably get a kick out of reading both Pinocchio and Frankenstein. Kamen Rider was also inspired by Batman and Spider-Man, so read The Shadow and The Spider pulps. Dracula and King Arthur inspired The Shadow, so check them out too. Definitely read or watch Casshern, watch Yatterman, Gundam, Time Bokan, Kikaider, and Speed Racer. Read Astro Boy and the rest of Tezuka's works.

And while you're at it, watch all of Disney's classic animated movies. Read the classic Disney comics, particularly Don Rosa's Ducktales and Scrooge McDuck. At some point check out Doc Savage because he was inspired by The Shadow but went on to inspire Indiana Jones.

>>24628411
Yeah, I love pulps for exactly the reasons I described.

>Casshern
watched
>Yatterman
on the list
>Gundam
been watching for a while
>Time Bokan
added to the list
>Disney classics
watched many times as a kid

go have a go at Concrete Revolutio

>>24628389
read Lord of the Mysteries

>>24628025
Gwynne isnt a excellent author, but he is better than reddit-tier Abercrombie.

Still waiting for kamen rider system novels

Jsut finished reading Project Hail Mary since my ex's mom recommended it.
Why are all science fuck yeah söykike types so obsessed with shitting and their own shit? They make constant references to shit and have to mention it multiple times in their writing. Also in tweets about people they don't like they always have to bring up shit. Is there a psychological explanation for this phenomenon?

>>24628489
it's the ultimate pinnacle of their materialist ethos, if shit has no ontological status as shit and it's just mere material it can be repurposed into anything, which means so can humans

Some time ago I posted about being unable to find more books in the vein of Jack Vance's Cugel. I ended up coming across Matthew Hughes' Fools Errant which finally scratched that itch. I finished it earlier today with great satisfaction and promptly began the pic related sequel, but I am sad to report my now-renewed disappointment. This feels like a fanfiction and lacks the energy and fantastic believability of the first book. I am fifty pages in and probably not going to bother reading any more. I will keep Fools Errant as a favorite but am now back to searching for a new cugelian adventure author.

>>24628496
Oops pic related was meant to be the sequel, Fool Me Twice

>>24628340

Take Lovecraft's word for it:
>It is told in a rather clumsy fashion, as the dreams of a man in the seventeenth century, whose mind merges with its own future incarnation; and is seriously marred by painful verboseness, repetitiousness, artificial and nauseously sticky romantic sentimentality, and an attempt at archaic language even more grotesque and absurd than that in “Glen Carrig”.

Although he does follow with
>Allowing for all its faults, it is yet one of the most potent pieces of macabre imagination ever written.

https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/essays/shil.aspx

>>24628489
Why do you have contact with your mom's ex?

>>24626043
Either that'd be high quality even for standard literature, like Bakker, or giga slop comfiness like idk Witcher

Why isn't there more harem in fantasy?

>>24628538
It's problematic and ick. Women like it when the heroine has to choose between multiple attractive males, not when the hero has access to multiple females.

>>24628540
I hated him until it was over

>>24628538
There's already too much.

>>24628556
No there isn't.
>>24628544
Maybe that's why men aren't reading books anymore, because they're written for women?

>>24628560
>Maybe that's why men aren't reading books anymore, because they're written for women?
Took you until 2025 to figure that one out?

>>24628487
I know of one that has not-kamenriders in it...

THEY. DID NOT. END 60,000,000,000 LIVES. USING FUCKING SWORDS AS THEIR PRIMARY WEAPON. IT'S NOT FUCKING POSSIBLE!!!!

>>24628573
The Rwandan Genocide claimed 800k lives using machetes over the course of less than two weeks

>>24628578
You can't get them to work but give them a machete and they never get tired of swinging it at people

>>24628573
still haven't heard why this is a bad thing

>>24628496
Nifft The Lean
Dominions of Irth Series

>>24628538
>>24628562
>Why won't [genre that has always functioned based on bestselling trends in my language of choice (English)] cater to my specific fetish? Surely it must be because the world is a dystopic matriarchate now.
Every single thread. You sound just like the rainbow haired they/thems who complain that capitalism and patriarchy won't let them sip their shitty Starbucks latte in peace.

>>24628340
Do wolfefags really get filtered this hard?
If lovecraft and smith read it then you can too
Maybe you need some more of le pringles man you pathetic manchild

>>24628533
My ex gfs mom was reading it. So months later I am reading it.

>>24628492
Honestly? Makes sense.

I finished Les Xipéhuz. I was looking forward to strange extraterrestrials vs pre-historic humans and the first third or so didn't disappoint, but then we were unfortunately introduced to the hilariously anachronistic protagonist/narrator that felt like a XIX century gentleman observing and narrating things and not some intelligent man from tens of thousands of years ago. The technique to introduce his direct narration was clever (some professor's translation of pre-cuneiform tablets) but besides some metaphors and epithets, he sounded way too modern and his observation of the alien lifeforms were ridiculously precise and mathematical. This in turn turned the final battle with the Xipéhuz into something anticlimactic for me, because I would have preferred seeing a bunch of people with limited knowledge and power cooperate against a seemingly unbeatable enemy instead of one big brained guy using Reason™. But maybe it's just me. The Xipéhuz were very interesting anyway.

>>24628777
I can see what Lovecraft and Smith got out of it. I'd even say it has a few moments that are the most poignant in all of Hodgson's works. But whenever Naani is in the story it's just fucking exhausting.
>And lo the maid did be afflicted with the love sickness and so she tried to throw herself into a volcano to anger me, for she did be a very naughty maid and I saw I must perforce spank her to return her to her natural human wisdom, but I did not want to because of my great love for my own. And if this doth be foolishness on my part you will lend me your natural human sympathies, for this is a very natural and very human fault.

>>24629048
Filtered

>>24626686
Even if he does die it will be at the end of Red God so you'll still have to suffer his existence through the whole book. Probably more Lysander POVs than Darrow POVs again too

Just finished Assassin's Apprentice and left wondering why is it getting praised, even in these threads.
It wasn't offensively bad, just sorta bland and unmemorable. Nothing really happens throughout most of it, nothing feels like it has any weight, the antagonist is so lame and incompetent he makes everyone appear dumb for failing to thwart him way earlier. The protagonist has no agency and just kinda stumbles into everything, all the while being a whiny emo teen. And he doesn't even really assassinate anyone

>>24628732
But the problem in this case is that platforms like Amazon and RRL won't like you when you write that.

>>24629469
For Amazon at least it's true. Not just for haremlit authors, but erotica in general gets buried by the kindle algorithm and though haremlit is not full erotica by Amazon's standards, Amazon is still all too happy to bury those books for the slightest reason. That's why even the blurbs for those books doesn't mention a harem, and instead says things like "unconventional romance catered to men"
I don't know if the reverse harem books for women have the same restrictions.

random question, where do you guys torrent your audio books from? I tried doing it the legit way through spotify but they're fucking retarded and only offer you like 10 hours a month or something? delusional.

>>24629494
there's a website called 4 chan . org that has a board called /t/. Maybe they have a thread about audiobooks?

What do you guys think about technical school?

Is it a waste of time, or is it worth it

How much physical description do you prefer for a character? I don't need to hear read about every single male character’s bulbous nose or square head or barrel chested physique.
But I do care about the breast size of women

>>24629579
hair color, cup size, thigh size, etc.

>>24629579
description is only needed if important to show. So yes breast size is very important

>>24629579
Usually hair and skin colour, height, maybe body type so I don't realise later I've had a completely different character image in my head all along.

>>24626025 (OP)
>female knight in the OP

Are there ANY authors who handle them right? I think Brienne of Tarth is decent and more importantly, she loses all of her fights to any uninjured man with actual training. But are there any others?

>>24629638
How would it be handled right when its a retarded situation to begin with?

>>24627448
I say stuff before Tolkien and his contemporaries fall well into this category. George Macdonald, Dunsany, Eddings, Peake... what are you looking for specifically?

>>24629594
>>24629579
Description should depend on the PoV.

e.g. if your PoV is a teenage boy he SHOULD describe her breasts.

>>24629594
>>24629579
Description should depend on the POV.

e.g. from my POV I want to know about the breasts, so the author SHOULD describe her breasts

>>24629048
It reads like the author is trying too hard to sound poetic.

>>24629579
In real life all I basically notice about somebody is how tall they are, how fat they are, what their hair color and style are and what they are wearing. Glasses too. Maybe breast size if they're wearing something that emphasizes it.

Things like eye color are impossible to notice, but I think in fiction it lets characters stand out from the others, so it's good to add.

>>24629788
you're not looking to see if a face is pretty? There's no way you're not checking out boob size..

Thoughts on the Dread Empire series?

i always thought it strange that this general endlessly praises bakker while nobody else knows his badly reviewed books exist. i gave The Darkness That Comes Before a chance but its introduction is exceptionally bad and boring. no hook or reason to care, just meaningless text such as subpar environment descriptions, with a sprinkle of boy rape at the start

i rate it 1/5

>>24630092
It's just one guy.

>>24630092
>this general
it's literally one autist fanboying Bakker not only here but also on the rest of the site

>>24630092
I agree the beginning is a bit hard to follow. Took me months to make an effort to dive past the opening sequence. It's all buildup. Kellhus encounters Sranc and a Nonman, but I know so little about them it's a little slow. Good and mysterious, but slow.
For me it was Cnaiur and his capture of Kellhus that hooked me as the central narrative appeal of book 1. But before that, we meet Achamian, Esmenet, and Xerius, and none of those pieces are coming together yet.
There's also a lot of sharp character arcs in the first book because this is the only glimpse of these characters we're getting before the Dunyain and the Consult came into their lives. Other characters like Maithanet are vital to the plot but we never get a POV from him because it would spoil the reveal that he's Dunyain (even though doing it that way reduces the impact anyways). We just never see him acting among the other major characters.
There's definitely elements of the initial trilogy that I'd call clumsy. It's still remarkably excellent in many ways.

>>24629494
audiobookbay

>>24629780
He's trying to emulate the 17th century, it's basically written in the style of the King James Bible. It actually works pretty well in the segments where he's not rambling about his foot fetish.

>>24629579
For primary characters more information is better. For side characters, just enough to visualize. In my own books I try to maximally describe characters so I can sneak descriptions of breasts and legs past the liberals

>>24630363
>spoiler
Based. All that matters to me is that you make skin color crystal fucking clear. Really beat them over the head with it.

>>24630400
>skin color
I tend to spell that out for most named characters especially because I like my women pale

Jade beauties

>>24628573
they had laser guns and nukes too

>>24630565
CAN'T USE LASGUNS ON SHIELDED TARGETS OR IT KILLS THE SHOOTER, THE SHOT AND EVERYONE WITHIN A FUCKING KILOMETER DIPSHIIIIIIT

>>24630477
Jade is my favorite precious stone

>>24630570
calm down. you're acting irrational

>>24629579
i like descriptions for important characters and ethnic groups. what i hate is when its done only when a character is introduced and by the time youre familiar you forgot what he looks like. good writing is regular reminders when they are relevant. for example during a sword fight: he wiped his blonde locks aside, blue eyes staring intently for tensing muscles signalling the next lunging angled thrust. this is just a blatant shitty example to show how fucking easy it is to incorporate hints about appearance, and is much better than the typical paragraph at character introduction followed by never mentioning anything again

>>24630581
You best shut your fucking mouth before I have a comrade take your ass to the infirmary.

How come Viriconium is so overlooked?
For me it's just as good as BOTNS and The Dying Earth.

Are Felix Gilman's other novels any good? I read Thunderer several years ago and just remember it being really weird and kind of depressing.

I googled for fantasy novels where women are treated as second class.

Here are the suggestions the AI gave:
>1. "If I Pay Thee Not in Gold" by Mercedes Lackey and Piers Anthony:
>2. "Seveneves" by Neal Stephenson
>3. "The Gate to Women's Country" by Sheri S. Tepper

The AI even writes next to the first story:
>This book explores a future where women are the ruling class and men are essentially in a form of subservience.

Why is it that I can find these stories without meaning to, but not the reverse? Even the actual search results give me answers with women in charge.

>>24630205
My favorite anime is Evangelion so I guess that explains a lot.

>main character is a lesbian
dropped

>>24630891
name 5 books

>>24630927
priory tree and gideon the ninth are the big ones

>>24628544
It can't be an ick considering how popular Wheel of Time is with women.

>>24630740
Gor
The Handmaid's Tale
Walk to the End of the World
Brak the Barbarian
Thongor
The Warriors of Zandor
Kothar
Warrior of Llarn
The Eye of Sarsis
The Iron Lords
Kar Karballa
Doomsday Wing
Dray Prescot
The Slave Princess of Mars
The Iron Mistress

>>24630980
Thanks. I'm not entirely sure if I want to read them, but it mostly just bothered me that Google completely flipped my search. The other search engines weren't any better either.

The only one out of those I've heard of is the Handmaid's Tale. Oddly enough that seemed popular with women.

>>24630986
I just asked ChatGPT for fantasy novels where women are slaves and to provide a brief description of the novel.

>>24630997
>>24630705
Aside from those, there are various web novels, more recent self-published novels, and light novels. There are surprisingly a lot of Japanese light novels and manga that are buying women at slave markets, magically enslaving them to do whatever you want, including sex, and severely harming them if they even think of disobeying.

>>24630972
You're forgetting how many of them just ignore the polygamy or downplay it by saying Elayne and Aviendha are gay lovers despite the literal sibling ceremony they go through

At the of Between Two Fires, what was the point of bringing the spear to Avignon when the angels enter world through Delphine's dead body and crush the devils easily without it?

If you try to write a Fantasy/Sci-Fi book with a cool main character with multiple love interests nowaways, they will kill you.
>"Who's they?"
Them.

>>24630762
The correct favorite anime is "none."

>>24631083
Do you actually think I'm referring to a mysterious they that will kill you for making cool characters that slay pussy?

>>24631095
>>24631083

Really cool of iron gold to introduce me to the concept of a Lysander chapter after a huge chiffhanger

>>24631160
Lysander chapters in Iron Gold are worldbuilding kino featuring based Cassian

>>24626043
Generating too much slop. I need a book with this vibe.

I read the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer. Its not very good imho

>>24631189
>Cassian
Cassius*

Has anyone read Wandering West In Shadow?
Is it decent? Never actually tried royal road stuff before.

>>24631242
should have asked here before reading.

>>24630762
I always thought that joke was referring to Futurama but this works too

>>24626827
>finally, right now, at the self-titled "A Will Eternal" chapter
WOWZ0RS WOWEE WHOOOOOOOOOOA

>>24631032
Didn't it protect her along the way? I can't remember much about that final battle.

>>24626043
By priority order:
1) Worldbuilding/ideas
2/3) Writing/Plot
4) Likeable Characters

>>24631076
Only for normalfags

>>24630605
Its great prose and original ideas and anti worldbuilding put out by harrison filters wolfe fans who need more of le urth worldbuilding by le pringles guy

>>24631795
You try to shit on Wolfe in every single thread and it's so tiresome. You're not making anyone interested in checking out your favorite obscure authors by shitting on Wolfe, you're just annoying people.

>>24631242
after watching the movie (which I did like), I bought the first 3 books in one shot. first was OK, second was interesting to say the least (very X-Files), but man I just don't have what it takes to read the third...

>>24631795
Isn't Wolfe's method more in line with Harrison's philosophy? BOTNS wasn't exactly filled to the brim with maps and appendices and most of the "worldbuilding" requires you reading between the lines.

>>24630605
picked up
I'm on the stars my destination now, Gully Foyle is a great MC. Fuck Vorga. Kill Vorga.

>>24626043
1. Likeable characters
2. Worldbuilding
3. Plot, as long as it passes a minimum bar of interest. Once the story has sucked me in the plot becomes optional.
4. Titties

>>24631002
>and severely harming them if they even think of disobeying
I haven't really seen Japanese ones that aren't straight up porn. Typically it seems very tame, more tame than even vanilla romance at times.

>>24631370
I did it! I finished reading A Will Eternal!

>>24631073
Don't want to read about any love interests at all let alone multiple.

Reading through the entire Lovecraft collection right now and it keeps flip flopping between being highly entertaining reads and putting me to sleep

>>24632479
Don't forget to read from the other two: Robert E. Howard and Clark Ashton Smith.

>>24632361
I'm really hoping S3 of the donghua gets properly subbed

>>24626043
Everything the other anons listed in their rankings but also massive battle sequences and gods intervening either directly or indirectly in mortal affairs.

>>24630972
This >>24631004

I'm ashamed to say I spent a good amount of time on that subreddit (before it got trooned by the tv show shills) and the cope is off the charts with women there. They always praise the girl boss moments but most of the time ignore the aftermath of a female's stupidity by saying "they're just not taken seriously by the other males" or "b-but muh Rand or Mat did worse!!". The fact that so many women there praise Egwene as this paragon of female competence should tell you everything you need to know about how women interpret Wheel of Time.

Just finished the Memory, Sorrow & Thorn trilogy. Any similar recs?

>>24630980
>Gor
Is this any good?

>>24632691
Nice, I'm on my reread and currently through Stone of Farewell. You could continue and go into the sequel series The Last King of Osten Ard which I recommend and was finished last year. If you want a bit of a break, The Once and Future King is good, as well as the Gormenghast series.

>>24632691
Have you considered just reading the rest of Tad Williams' Osten Ard books?
>The Heart of What Was Lost
>Brothers of the Wind
>The Witchwood Crown
>Empire of Grass
>Into the Narrowdark
>The Navigator's Children

>>24632691
>>24632744
That's right. Forgot 'Heart of What Was Lost', which is a bridge between MS&T and the new series.

>>24632774
>rim golds
Kino
>Cassius
Kino
>battle to the death
Kino
doesn’t die
KINOOO

So Red Rising is decent? Any major criticisms?

>>24632797
The new character POVs introduced after the first trilogy are lame and gay

>>24632797
Yes they’re good. I’d say the major criticism is that the first book is an obvious hunger games clone however it was forced on by the publisher. As soon as he got a book deal, the author threw that shit out of the window and then book 2 onwards is a space opera and a lot more mature.

>>24632814
Wrong. All the new POVs are more interesting than Darrow. Darrow suffers from Gary Stu at times and the other POVs are great for worldbuilding.

>>24632817
>>24632814
Cool. I'll stick to the first three books then.

Every thread will have first time anons.
Every thread will have anons who don't read the thread.
Every thread will have anons that ask the same questions, both intentionally and not.
Every time this is stated there will be an anon who responds with that it's discussion, so it doesn't matter, nor do the archives.
Those who engage are Sisyphus until they realize they no longer wish to roll the boulder.
Then are the ones for whom rolling the boulder for a specific book or author is all they want to do.

So is Lord of the Rings any good?

>>24632819
The sequel books are far better though. Don’t limit yourself anon as that’s where the real kino is.

Just reread Beyond the Black River.

>>24632827
Meh, it never reaches the same heights as The Hobbit. Tolkien was just writing pot-boilers at that point to make his nut.

>>24632817
>I’d say the major criticism is that the first book is an obvious hunger games clone however it was forced on by the publisher. As soon as he got a book deal, the author threw that shit out of the window and then book 2 onwards is a space opera and a lot more mature.
This is true
>Wrong. All the new POVs are more interesting than Darrow. Darrow suffers from Gary Stu at times and the other POVs are great for worldbuilding.
This is false. Mustang POV is just her being a boss kween lusting after handsome men other than Darrow, Ephraim is just a grumpy old fart reminiscing about the time he took dick up the ass and for the love of me I cannot even remember what the fuck Lyria's story was about. Lysander is pretty gud doe

There are few anons more loathsome than the anon whose entire opinion is decided by the first anon who replies and ignores all else.

>>24632836
kys Lysander

Lysander is by far the best character.

>>24632845
stfu Lysander

I read the first book this fella released and his prose was somehow more utilitarian and boring than even Sandersons and now his new book series is being praised to high heavens. Is it bettur youguysthink?

>>24631877
You have been trying to shill wolfe as a literary author for a decade now at this point and it's so tiresome
Read some better literature
Grow up
Also
>obscure authors
Your statement has proven that wolfefags are all zoomers, vance was huguely popular in the speculative fiction scene, stop crying that you got filtered by literal pulp stories
>>24631897
>Isn't Wolfe's method more in line with Harrison's philosophy
No
He literally has maps drawn for "urth"

>>24632967
Didn't read those 3, but enjoyed "The will of the many" a lot. The main character is a Mary sue at times, but the ending of the first book promises a lot to come.

>>24629638
>>24629662
The only way to handle female knights "right" is to make them magical or non-human.

>>24629638
>I think Brienne of Tarth is decent
No she isn't. Did you miss the part where she won a melee in Renly's camp by beating like a hundred knights including Loras (one of the best fighters in the books)?

>>24633017
Brienne of Tarth should be a huge ugly ogre

>>24629638
Leave it to the pulps

>>24632967
I'm impressed you managed to finish that first book at all. I DNF'd it after like two chapters.

>>24633017
>Brienne - a 7 feet tall 250 lbs+ biological freak (these exact words being used to describe her more than once) of an adult women - being a capable fighter is unbelievable outrageous bullshit
>Loras being "one of the best fighters alive" as an underage sub 130 lbs femboy twink is somehow totally ok
Brother I think you might have sever brainrot.

>>24633211
I mean if we're gonna be at all fair there's a lot to be said about skinny twinks in fiction. At least Elric was sort of meant to be pathetic and sickly on purpose if not for his sword that hates him a shit t on of drugs

What's going on with libgen bros? I can't even get the status website Open slum to load.

>>24632779
>>24632774
cassius should have lived and had a mustang spitroasting bonding moment with darrow to cement their new brotherhood
alas it was not meant to be

>>24633211
>Loras being "one of the best fighters alive" as an underage sub 130 lbs femboy twink is somehow totally ok
For the tourney tilts it makes at least some sense since most of the force is provided by a horse, but Bitterbridge was a melee.

My own reading of the scene was
>they all know that Renly is balls deep in dat bussy
>everyone wants to suck up to Renly
>nobody wants to piss Renly off by disfiguring le handsome face which he covers in cum daily (plus Tyrells themselves would be upset as well)
>everyone deliberately jobs to Loras
>except for Brienne who is clueless and honorable enough to not even try to read the room
>stomps Loras like a tard because he's mid at best in a melee

>>24633234
His sacrifice was necessary in order for Lysander to take his place as the shepard for humanity.

Is this a good choice if I'm looking for short sci-fi horror stories?

>>24633257
>Bitterbridge was a melee
A melee that started on horse.
He also lost the moment he lost his horse.

>>24631436
No, it never gets used. In fact the demons started chasing after the spear itself and got suspicious about the girl because she carried the spear.

>>24630605
Dunno, I read a couple dozen pages and it didn't hook me. Maybe next time.

Name of the Wind is still good.

Someone tried to explain the premise of the Expanse to me and got mad when I burst out laughing at the "Epstein Drive"

>>24633503
A lot of Expanse happened on that island.

>>24633511
Nope. Sorry. I think I would have heard about that

Just finished Light Bringer and now I'm finally caught up.
These are spoilers you asshole don't blame me if you keep reading
Really glad that I missed Cassius's death being spoiled and that I had the willpower to not check the spoilers a few posts above until I finished the book, even though I recognized the massive death flags that popped up towards the end. That hangar chapter was fucking crazy. I also think the genetic super weapon is retarded and completely unnecessary drama in the story. Hopefully Brown realizes that and it gets handwaved away like Lyria's parasite or the mutant powers of the Ascommani
In conclusion, Lysander MUST die.

>>24633531
There are interesting things that can be done with the weapon, and I have enough trust in PB at this point to think that he'll find them.

>>24633531
Lysander is going to use it on the pinks as a show of force thinking its a multi use thing only for it to stop working after he uses it but he'll bluff he can still use it to keep the core golds in check

>>24633601
Lysander ain't gonna do shit because he's unceremoniously getting his brains blown out by Holiday's rifle in chapter 7 and the rest of the book is just a massive dick measuring contest between Darrow and Apollonius

i'm looking for a book to give my father in law for his birthday. We've been swapping book recommendations for a couple of years now and have just about run out of books i think he'll like that i've actually read. I'm leaning toward Armor by Steakley as he really liked old mans war and the forever war.Anything else like this ? Any reason to stay away from Armor?

>>24633608
>Holiday's rifle
*Rhonna's (she's not dead)

>>24631242
Condolences, anon.

>read suspenseful chapter for one of my favorite characters
>close book as soon as things start going south and take a walk with my hands behind my head

>>24633035
she is...

>>24632691
Otherland, by the same author.

>>24632832
Tolkien didn't even get rich off LOTR so not really

>>24632779
you liar why did he have to die everything is worse now

>>24632836
>Mustang POV is just her being a boss kween lusting after handsome men other than Darrow
blatantly false. the only time this happened was when someone was literally fucking with her brain.

>>24633274
kys lysander

>>24632797
Its YA and has pozzed shit.

>>24633531
the hanger scene was so brutal and even though it was clearly signposted it was coming, it still stressed me out. Made worse by the desecration of Cassius body by that evil shit Lysander.

LYSANDER MUST DIE

Started this 2 days ago and finished it yesterday, what an awesome fucking book. Any recommendations for more like it, i.e. themes of intelligent microbial life and/or scifi-ish (unusual) pandemics? Also, what other stuff by Greg Bear is worth reading? Forge of God any good?

>>24630121
>>24630115
If you found absolutely 0 appeal in Bakker, I'd genuinely like to hear what you guys think is a good fantasy series then

>>24630092
Yeah it's very slow. The prose is pretty solid right from the start imo, but there's not all that much to care about, and Kellhus doesn't really work as a character UNTIL it dawns on you how gross and off-putting pure rationality is when stripped of any ""human"" element. For me it was Maithanet that kept me reading, but other than maybe the Byzantine setting there's probably not all that much to keep someone going

>>24630605
If I read this and Dying Earth, will I be a cool kid?

>>24634153
Hello bakkersperg

>>24632995
>Stop liking what I don't like!

>>24629638
If they're hot, then they're good.
Simple as.

>>24630115
>>24630121
I'll laugh if he also turns out to be the anti-Wolfeschizo

>>24634128
He wrote another book, Darwin's Radio, that feature biology heavily and is almost as good.

> what other stuff by Greg Bear is worth reading?
Tangents, Eon, Queen of Angels, Forge of God (certainly in my top 3 first-contact books)

> Any recommendations for more like it, i.e. themes of intelligent microbial life and/or scifi-ish (unusual) pandemics
There's the Southern Reach trilogy, at least the first book is very heavily about a surreal biological manifestation.

>>24634196
I don't regularly read sffg but based on some posts by (presumably) this autist on the archive, and the quotes he picked for them, I'm gonna go with that you guys are getting trolled

>>24633211
>>24633257
Cope. It's just GRRM being a feminist mangina.

>>24634226
Found the LGBTQIA+ representation stan.

>>24634226
He has to spread his seed somehow.

>>24634209
Awesome, thanks for the recommendations. I have Forge of God on my TBR already but don't wanna get into a new multi-book series for the moment, and instead work through some standalone novels i have had i my TBR list since forever. Also just realized that Darwin's Radio is part of a series as well... sigh

>>24632540
Don't forget Manly Wade Wellman

>>24634190
You'll be reading some of the greatest fantasy ever made, you'll probably still be shoved in a locker though.

>>24634198
Read better books

>>24634269
I used to get bullied for reading Douglas Adams in elementary school :(

>>24632540
Clark Ashton Smith had some good stories but he was also an insufferable wanker about language - "oh I pick every word super carefully for its exact shade of meaning and tone". Don't be fucking absurd, there is no meaning and tone when nobody understands your gibberish!
"Frorely burned the sun above Mhu Thulan from a welkin clear and wannish as ice."
And mimsy were the borogoves and the mome raths fucking outgrabe! None of this shit is words!

>>24628709
Botns isn't much like Cugel except the mysterious far future setting. Severian is nothing like Cugel. Cugel wants to steal a powerful wizard's equipment for selfish reasons, Severian is the lictor of Thrax.
>>24629579
I don't like descriptions at all. Why canonize the way characters look?
>>24630605
Just as good? Have we read the same books?
>>24634340
CAS is the most artsy of the great three.

>>24632827
The Hobbit is more tightly plotted, and Silmarillion is a better example of his personal brand of brilliance, but LotR is definitely still good. Rereading it now myself, and it is quite lovely.

>>24634303
Such as?

>>24634340
Is it true Asimov hated him?

>>24634128
This novel has balls.I loved the dumb girl the most. More books should have below average POV characters.

>>24634358
Oooh! This makes me like CAS even more. Asimov's writing style is one of the worst I've ever read. Anything he disliked must be good.

>>24634355
You can choose to read better sff like dunsany, vance, smith, howard, macdonald
And once you've read them you can start reading actual literary fiction which you don't need me to spoonfeed you. Just read a /lit/ chart

>>24629579
>Puckee is posting on /lit/ now
Fucking hell
For any of you who don't know he's a notorious user on /tg/ who spams pictures of his comissioned art with shitty prompt questions
Just search up puckee21 on the archives and you'll find his trash
>>24629590
>>24629594
>>24629601
>>24629747
>>24630363
>>24630585
>>24634347
Why are you responding to a disingenuous question?
Puckee is only asking it as an excuse to post his shitty art

>>24634375
Sorry I'm not terminal enough to recognize resident schizos.

>>24634375
Why are you sperging out over a 2 day old post that created on topic discussion?

>>24634153
>how gross and off-putting pure rationality is when stripped of any ""human"" element
what does that mean? how is it rational to "strip any human element"?

>>24634382
You would be if you spent any time on /tg/
He has made hundreds if not thousands of disingenous threads spamming his art as well as spamming them in any situation he sees appropriate

>>24634360
Having read I Robot last year, he's very much an "ideas guy". Functional, workmanlike prose for sure, but nothing above that, and certainly not evocative.

>>24634384
Why do you feel the need to spam 4chan with your shitty commissioned art?

>>24634387
what is evocative prose? isnt it a skill issue when you need specific prose to feel?

>>24634386
I sometimes go there, but it's Reddit-tier. I once got banned for mentioning a 2e Greyhawk sourcebook in the OSR general. Tabletops make me sad because I'll never get to play them. I don't know anyone who'd play anything but 5e and Discord/Roll 20 troons are out of the question.

>>24634393
And the /tg/ mods protect his posts as well and refuse to ban him
He's been doing it for well over half a decade at this point, not just on 4chan but on facebook and reddit too
Complete mental illness

>>24634390
Not at all, it is a poetry issue. Some authors have the skill, some don't.
Similar to how some people can make music on an instrument and others just make sounds.

>>24629796
>you're not looking to see if a face is pretty?
I do, but pretty faces are subjective. It's not something I can put into words other than describing the face as pretty.
>There's no way you're not checking out boob size..
I think it's pretty hard to tell unless she is particularly well-endowed or wearing clothes that accentuate her chest.

>>24634398
but what is evocative prose?
>some people can make music on an instrument and others just make sounds
rap is noise to me but who am i to decide the line between music and sounds?

when you ask for evocative prose, my expectation is that you mean a niche vapid style that appeals to you. i like functional prose because in my experience there is a strong correlation between straying from functional and being shit. typically the result is authors too busy sniffing their own farts instead of getting a message across. so i asked you in case my assumptions are wrong

>>24634389
I don't have to be your boogeyman to call out your retarded behavior, retard.

>>24634430
Fuck off Puckee

>>24634409
I'd define evocative prose as prose that effectively sets the mood and tone. Going to the pulps, you can instantly tell the testosterone-fueled brooding melancholy and hardboiled atmosphere of a Robert E Howard story, or the almost beautiful sense of mystery and gloom of a Clark Ashton Smith tale. Even Lovecraft, purply and overrought as his prose is, can effectively set a haunting, isolated, mood in his better stories.

By contrast, I never got a real sense feeling or tone in I Robot or even most of Clarke's Childhood's End, which I otherwise like.

>>24634347
>Just as good? Have we read the same books?

Yes

>>24626025 (OP)
Does someone have good coomer sffg recommends? It doesnt have to revolve around cooming. Just a good fantasy book that also has some hot moments.
I need a pallette cleanser after Bakker's Prince of nothing trilogy.
Preferably no romantasy slop.

>>24634521
GGK books tend to be horny. I'd go so far as to call him a dirty old man. Randy old goat.

>>24634553
Thats a real coincidence. Fionavar tapastry was next on my list. Would that fit the bill, or are other books of his a better way to scratch that itch.

>>24634559
I haven't read Fionavar so I couldn't say, but Tigana certainly has some of those scenes.

Just finished book 12, and once again have come to let you all know this series is absolutely excellent.

>>24634659
>this series is absolutely excellent.
I'd hope so. Doesn't this guy make like 80k a month to write this shit?

>>24632967
The other books get better but arent anything special, by the third book his prose and writing skills improve a lot. Id say by the end of the trilogy he is better than Sandersoy, Mark Lawrence and Brett Weeks but not as good as Tad Williams, Raymond Feist and even John Gwynne. Also, there is absolutely no pozzed shit in his books.

you guys know of any fantasy books where the protagonist is an incompetent bungler, does NOT develop his/her ability despite great potential, making obstacles tougher to overcome, but still gets by them eventually with ingenuity/guile/cunning or even just luck?

>>24634707
I think he's a millionaire from it yeah. Was waging at some dead end job, then during COVID when he had all that down time, instead of just watching WMAF porn all day like I did, he wrote the Primal Hunter.

>>24634753
That's crazy. No one read the shit I wrote during COVID. I might as well have fapped all day instead. I take it Primal Hunter is near the peak of progression fantasy? I never really checked out the genre

>>24634742
Dying Earth series has SOME of that but I'm not sure it's quite what you are after.

>>24634742
The Rincewind books in Discworld. Also the Moist von Lipwig books in Discworld.

>>24634780
Glad to hear I didn't waste my time then, thank you.

Yeah litrpg, but it's not some video game fan fiction like the others from that genre tend to be, it's an very well done proper fantasy/sci-fi. Not just a bunch of mindless battles like litrpg's often are, it has great plot and story progression, fun twists and characters. First series I have read in a long time where I'm up until 3AM because I was excited to find out what happens next. Audiobook version is also great, Travis Baldree does a great job with it. I usually read the ebook when it comes out first, then a few months later when the audiobook releases I listen to it as well. I miss a bunch of the jokes in there and only catch them with Baldree reads because his delivery is so good.

>>24634128
Bear kind of fell off a cliff and disappeared but damn, there was a 10-year period where everything he wrote was god-tier and that might be his best. I really feel like reading it again to confirm.

I've noticed a trend of Sci-fi societies that are oddly supportive of homosexuality, even when the society is presented as otherwise extremely regressive.

>>24634836
Current-era politics in modern sci-fi? What a surprise!

>>24634860
That's crap. Sci-fi has a long history of writing settings featuring all kinds of societal structures. Even Asimov wrote about a world where incest with normal.

>>24634865
Then what was the fucking point of anon's (yours?) post?

>>24634867
Not him, but probably the contradiction between an extremely regressive society and its acceptance of homosexuality?

>>24634867
nta - I guess my reply was to both of you. Trying to apply modern divisive politics to absolutely everything just means you've drunk the cool-aid.

>>24634871
Which would more-than-likely be influenced by modern politics.

>>24634836
The one I just read every couple in there was gay or lesbian except for the protagonist, and the protagonist's female love interest was bigger and stronger than him. I guess in the future people are just more enlightened and most men prefer a man's poop on their dick over a vagina.

>>24626043

>Is it written by Iain M. Banks
>Did Iain M. Banks endorse it before he died

>>24634860
Yeah >>24634871 is what I'm getting at. You present what is basically a medieval or ancient society in space, with all the trappings that come with that. Yet, they're really accepting of gay people.

>>24634128
Frank Schätzing's "The Swarm" comes to mind. Fantasticly written and well researched bio sci-fi thriller. Don't know about the quality of the translation though, as I read it in German

>>24634128
Forge of God kicks ass, and the short story BM is based on is even better than the novel

>>24634888
Got any other queries with an easy answer that myself or other anons could help you with?

>>24634918
I don't think you're getting what I'm getting at. These societies are typically presented as extremely negative. Filled with some form of racism, xenophobia, a strict caste system, and religious zealotry. A bunch of other stuff that goes against modern politics, but homophobia is frequently the one thing that doesn't get included in these societies that once again are presented as being horrible.

See this science fiction adventure classic? Yeah, it's complete DOGSHIT actually.

For all the faults that heinlein had concerning libertarianism or strong advocacy for firearms it is true that heinlein also invented the idea that it was possible actually to leave the south.

>>24634128
I fucking love it if someone like Apple spent their millions to make a mini-series of Bloodmusic and Forge of God. I don't know anyone who has read either and didn't rate them highly.

>>24634836
The people who read, or at least actually pay money for, modern sci-fi books tend to be the sort of people who really cannot handle depictions of intolerance towards alternative sexualities in their escapist literature. They can handle other types of regressive intolerance because those don't hit as close to home.

>>24635036
Any thoughts on Eon?

>>24634836
I liked how homosexuality and polyamory is depicted in The Expanse as the 'decadence of E*rth'

The lesbian pastor being Methodist made me laugh pretty hard

>>24635133
I'm not sure how adaptable Eon and it's sequels are for TV. There's some crazy shit later on.

>>24635030
>strong advocacy for firearms
>fault
wat

>>24634932
> Filled with some form of racism, xenophobia, a strict caste system, and religious zealotry.
You just described ancient Rome. It had all of those things but homosexuality was perfectly fine, especially between men.

>>24635167
>homosexuality was perfectly fine

Not exactly. From what I know, there were strict standards for homosexual relationships that were allowed, and if those standards weren't kept, the men involved would be ostracized.

For example, it was considered proper if they fell into clear dominant and submissive roles. The dominant would be a much older man, often the submissive's superior in some way, such as his commanding officer, his boss, his master, etc. And often the dominant would be of a higher social standing from the outset, like being from a better family.

And even when done correctly, the submissive man would still be somewhat ostracized, as being in this role was seen as somewhat shameful. Sometimes it was even used as a form of punishment, where a man would be coerced into this role after displeasing his superior.

>>24635167
>>24635195 is right, not to mention that the submissive being from a noble family would have brought great shame. Homosexuality was socially fine when a slave was involved. You probably mistook it for Greece, but even then each city had its own policy and the matter of active/passive was rather important, although it was socially acceptable for nobles to take part in such relationships.

>>24634913
The Swarm is a great book, read it in Finnish :D:D
Definitely very educational book and anyone with any interest in the sea and what lives in it should read it

Can you guys post some of your favourite short stories? I want something bite-sized to read while I fementasefjikopesfgsedrggzrgisdfkop<sdfpjio<sldf kmäks
one of my favourites is the The Quest of Iranon

>>24635305
Unironically "The Jaunt" by Stephen King. Read it when I was young and it left a strong impression on me. I always recommend it.

>>24635305
>while I fementasefjikopesfgsedrggzrgisdfkop<sdfpjio<sldf kmäks
same
for me it's traveler's rest

>>24635305
The Witcher short stories are very good and are the best of any Witcher media. Don’t read anything after them

>>24635305
I liked the collection in The October Country.

>>24634865
> Even Asimov wrote about a world where incest with normal
Wow, a jew promoting degeneracy. Every single time.

>>24635305
>fementasefjikopesfgsedrggzrgisdfkop<sdfpjio<sldf kmäks
Is this some euro thing?

>>24634385
Human nature is irrational. We don't perfectly update our internal models based on new input, and let all sort of biases get in the way of how we process things. We apply those models perfectly rationally either. Yeah in the name of the greater good it's best to leave that dumbass penguin child to starve at the bottom of that ravine it can't climb from, but most people would (rightly imo) perceive that as the more monstruous choice. So there's a sort of paradox where it's generally good to strive towards more rationality and try to shed our irrational, human elements, but perfect rationality appears to be something inhuman to us, and since it's clearly not "animal" either, the next association our brains jump to is monstruous

>>24635467
holy reddit upvote!

>male author
>male mc
is this too much to ask from modern fantasy?

>>24635630
What?

>>24635670
Feels good reading self-published novels. :DDD

>no cuckoldry
is this too much to ask from xianxia?

>>24635670
I assume it has to be single pov as well.

>>24635684
I don't think I've ever seen that in a Chinese novel. At least not where MC is the cuck. I can't speak about western ones, I've only tried reading Cradle and Ave Xia Rem and gave up on both

how is darrow so smart? i thought he was a miner
there's no way he got that good of an education in the few months before they put him in the school

>>24635670
Fantasy Series Written By Male Authors With A Single Male POV In The Last 10 Years (there are many, many, more)

Shadows of Self (Mistborn #5)
Firefight (The Reckoners #2)
Madness in Solidar (Imager Portfolio, #9)
Sunset Mantle
Stranger of Tempest (The God Fragments, #1)
Unsouled (Cradle, #1)
Black Leviathan
The Rage of Dragons (The Burning #1)
Aching God (Iconoclasts, #1)
Priest of Bones (War for the Rose Throne, #1)
The Dragon's Banker
Prosper's Demon
Black Stone Heart (The Obsidian Path, #1)
Dungeon Crawler Carl (Dungeon Crawler Carl, #1)
Isolate (The Grand Illusion, #1)
The Will of the Many (Hierarchy, #1)
The Sunlit Man
The Tainted Cup (Shadow of the Leviathan, #1)
The Silverblood Promise (The Last Legacy, #1)
Navola

>>24635805
grim

>>24635838
How's that grim? That's only a small sampling.

Reading Brandon Sanderson is non-stop one step forward, one step back.
Every time you read something good he drops something equally bad. It's weird how it is somehow enough to propel me to not DNF even though I am tempted to just throw up my hands and go read the wiki for the interesting stuff instead because it mostly feels predictable.

I'm two-thirds into Well of Ascension, btw.

>>24635886
You just don't appreciate the genius that is Zane enough

>>24635932
I'd appreciate it more if there was a lot less of it

>>24635932
>i am LE INSANE!

For someone who's supposed to be a big (heh) writer about mental health Zane seemed like a really odd caricature

>>24635949
That was before then

>>24635845
almost all are part of a series. Gay

>>24635951
I see, because I heard everyone talk about how it was there from the start with Vin's mental health and constant self-doubt

Do any of you guys have the Bakker meme of him typing on an imageboard pretending to one-up his old teacher?
Pls help I need it to win an argument.

World biggest feminist BUT she's super racist
lmao

World biggest feminist BUT she's super pedophile abuser
lmao

>>24636165
All good women are

I envy Pierce Brown's ability to tell a satisfying story in like 500 pages or less. It's really easy to write a lot. It's harder to write less and have it be as impactful. I'm struggling writing my own story within a word count constraint.

>>24636165
Okay, but are the books good?

>>24636369
Judge not a book by its cover, or by its content, but by the author's life.

>>24635670
>is this too much to ask from modern fantasy?
Yes

>>24635954
series are based

Read this when I was a kid and thought it was the best book ever. Afraid to read it again fearing it won;t be as good and will spoil the memory.

>>24632691
I have been in your place and some kind anon gave me good advice.
You can watch the sequel trilogy. It's as good if not better

I've read up to chapter 473 of New White Snake and it's become disappointing to me. I guess what I liked most about the story was the protagonist was one of the rare xianxia main characters of late who is striving to actually be a moral person, despite being a "monster". At some point it switched from her doing good and getting no thanks in return to her doing good only for benefits to her being completely arbitrary in her actions.
Like many xianxia stories it lacks in direction and plot but doesn't even have some overarching reason for the character's situation ("I need to get stronger so I can get revenge!" or "My sect burned down and now I have to seek the lost treasure the sect older told me about before he died!" etc) she's described as lazy so has no reason to be anywhere but back at the sect but she's spent only a month there in the past 300 years.
At one point she spent 10+ years protecting and training the once in a thousand years generational protagonist chosen by the heavens then drops him once he gets old enough, they encounter each other twice over the years and then she cultivates for 50 years and he's never heard from again.

>>24634983
oooh someone's not familiar with Heinlein and his tendency to write fukken... essay-books, with one idea and half a plot.
and they're all just fukken great. so fuck you.