Thread 24668507

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:
>>24659332

>Thread Question:
Do you own any special editions of books? Which are your favourites and what would get you to purchase one?

who mogs?

I have barebones of pre-1980 short stories I would like to read:
>Vladimir Nabokov - A Nursery Tale (1926), An Affair of Honor (1927), A Dashing Fellow (1930), Breaking the News (1931), A Russian Beauty (1934), Spring in Fialta (1936), Signs and Symbols (1948)
>A.E. van Vogt - The Seesaw (1941)
>Isaac Asimov - Liar! (1941), Runaround (1942), Catch That Rabbit (1944), Breeds There a Man...? (1951), The Last Question (1956)
>Arthur C. Clarke - Rescue Party (1946), The Sentinel (1951), The Nine Billion Names of God (1953), The Star (1955)
>Shirley Jackson - The Lottery (1948)
>Ray Bradbury - There Will Come Soft Rains (1950), The City (1950)
>Jerome Bixby - It's a Good Life (1953)
>Philip K. Dick - Second Variety (1953), The Trouble with Bubbles (1953), We Can Remember It for You Wholesale (1966)
>Poul Anderson - Sam Hall (1953)
>Alfred Bester - Fondly Fahrenheit (1954)
>Robert Sheckley - Ghost V (1954)
>Theodore Sturgeon - The Education of Drusilla Strange (1954)
>Tom Godwin - The Cold Equations (1954)
>Cordwainer Smith - The Game of Rat and Dragon (1955)
>G.C. Edmondson - Technological Retreat (1956)
>A. Bertram Chandler - The Cage (1957)
>Avram Davidson - Or All the Seas with Oysters (1958)
>J.G. Ballard - Chronopolis (1960), The Cage of Sand (1962), The Reptile Enclosure (1963), The Terminal Beach (1964), The Drowned Giant (1964), Crash (1970), The 60 Minute Zoom (1976)
>H. Beam Piper - A Slave is a Slave (1962)
>Bob Shaw - Light of Other Days (1966)
>Harlan Ellison - I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream (1967)
>Gene Wolfe - The Changeling (1968), The Island of Doctor Death and Other Stories (1970), Alien Stones (1972), The Hero as Werewolf (1975), Many Mansions (1976), The Doctor of Death Island (1978), Tracking Song (1979)
>Robert Silverberg - Passengers (1968)
>Ursula K. Le Guin - The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas (1973)
>James Tiptree Jr. - The Girl Who Was Plugged In (1973), Houston, Houston, Do You Read (1976)
>Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game (1977)
>George R.R. Martin - Sandkings (1979)

Could anon please suggest more short stories to add to the list (doesn't have to be sff), or suggest what to replace with other stories which explored the idea better?

>Asimov
I'm not quite sure which short story represents his robot universe the best. I read the Foundation series when I was a kid and honestly looking back at it it's nothing exceptional and not worth a reread as it is. I would love the first 3 or 4 books to be compressed into a novel.
>Dick
I read most of his short stories, The Man in the High Castle, Ubik, and Scanner Darkly. Second Variety is the only short story which stands out (haven't read the other two I included). I liked The Man in the High Castle but as with Foundation I think it would work better as a novelette.
>Ballard
Crash (the short story is enough to explore that theme) is hit or miss, was a hit for me. The 60 Minute Zoom is rather experimental but coherent enough and I think it's not being mentioned enough.

>>24668610
Howard or Tolkien alone mog everyone on the left.

Not sure if it counts but I have an Atlas from ~1870's that has been passed down in my family. Never really looked at it much as I can't read the running writing

>>24668610
>putting space communism or elven fascism in genre fiction
ugh i'd rather read one of those horny books for chicks than politicized shit

>>24668610
Barron is carrying the left pretty hard.

>>24668733
Isn't it going to be a hassle finding these stories individually?

>>24668610
where is tad williams?

Reading this bad boy

>>24668910
Fucking his wife on an island somewhere.

>>24668507 (OP)
>TQ
I own folio society versions for books I like and I'm also thinking about getting this version of red rising

>>24668733
>DIck short stories
I have "The Chromium Fence" and "Misadjustment" specifically bookmarked on my ereader, from my incomplete reread. There are some others I liked off the top of my head like The Hanging Man(?) which was included within the Electric Dreams Amazon TV adaptation anthology thing.
>only 3 books
Read more Dick.

>still no Traveler's Rest (1965)

>>24669240
Not how I pictured Darrow or his scythe at all and Eo looks too beautiful for how she was described.

>>24669372
Yeah, he looks too much like Jaime Lannister from GOT season 1 in that. Other official art has him looking less chiseled but he is around 10-15 years older here.

>>24669372
That's a sickle, and he's holding it the wrong way.

>>24669372
That's a sickle.

Any sci-fi with aliens similar to the Strogg?

>>24668610
REH wrote more in his short lifetime than most people who live to 100 will ever read

>>24669393
That's more how I imagined Darrow. Better sickle design too.

>>24669406
Savage Wars, elites leave earth in sub-light vessels to build their ideal societies, only create dystopian nightmares. The people they left behind in Earth beat them to their destinations with FTL by several generations. They now predated on a burgeoning interstellar society.

>>24668610
Who is the guy on the left of Wolfe and the other guy on the left of Herbert?

>>24669372
Eo was described as beautiful though, wasn't she? And she was clearly a looker otherwise no one would have cared when she was hung, sad song or no. It's merely human nature

>>24669877
True

>>24668507 (OP)
>TQ
My copy of Children of Hurin has "collector's edition" on it but it seems pretty regular to me.

What are some fantasy books that make you tear up or have strong emotional resonance? The double whammy of these two really hit me hard and I've been chasing that high ever since.

>>24670272
I know you are just shitposting, but here is mine.

I want funny books. I don't always want to use my brain. I just want comedy books I can just sit back and read. I don't think I can even name a comedy book that's not a school fair joke book for retarded kids.

As long as it's not reddit quips or pseud shit, I want it.

>>24670862
Terry Pratchett

>>24670862
There is always Call of the Crocodile.

>>24670862
Rudy Rucker

>>24670828
this jew is very underrated. Wrote some great books.

Dark Age
I fucking knew it was going to be clones behind Lilath. I fucking knew they were going to clone the Jackal and bring him back. This book fucking sucks

>>24670918
That bit did make me roll my eyes but if it goes the way I think it will it could be interesting. Still a good book though.

>>24670828
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_Inside#Literary_and_other_allusions
H-how does he have allusions to this many people in the book?

>https://archive.is/gahBc
>Last year, romantasy sales topped more than 32 million copies in print alone, a 47 percent jump over the previous year, according to Circana Bookscan. Five of the 10 best-selling adult fiction titles this year are romantasies. At the same time, adult fiction sales overall have stagnated.
Jesus Christ.

Just finished this, can't say I enjoyed it all that much. What's up with /lit/'s obsession over him?

does this still hold in 2025? I remember reading maybe a couple of these 20 years ago but I don't remember shit. Are they still good or just to plain and lame?

>>24670862
another Anon has told you already: start with the Rincewind Trilogy from Terry Pratchett, it doesn't get much better than that.

Also Dungeon Crawler Carl managed to give me a few laughs

also if that's your benchmark of a funny book you are a retard

>>24671170
Yeah, the original trilogy still holds up. Sure the setting is generic high fantasy ripped straight from D&D but sometimes that's exactly what you want. Something known and comfy.

Can someone recommend me something cozy with fall vibes? Other than the above.

I know I'm gay.

>>24671292
Fellowship of the Ring (lots of descriptions of forests, trees, nature), Harry Potter (self explanatory), Circe (Greek goddess witch on an island), Graveyard Book (Halloween), Tress of the emeralds sea (cozy travel). Comfy season is nearly here bros

>>24668610
I have never read Terry Goodkind but have seen a lot of people say his writing and stories were pretentious garbage.

How true is this? Was he really shit or are people just seething over his political opinions?

>>24671292
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny
Fellowship of the Ring by Jayarar Tolkien

>>24671313
> Was he really shit
Yes, yes he was.

His first book was a blatant rip-off of what was popular at the time - even his publisher basically admitted that was why he was selected - wasn't completely awful. It had enough interesting world building and characters to be somewhat popular and S&M elements to be kinky. Even the next book or two weren't terrible, then the entire series fell off a vertical cliff. Success let to arrogance and delusion and he wasn't shy about his views. The more he loudly claimed he was writing high art that would change how people viewed the world, philosophy, and life itself the worse the books actually became.

>>24671303
Thanks anon.

Regarding tress of emeralds sea - I liked some of Sanderson's old books but anything released past 2008ish was unreadable for me. Is this one any different from his other newer stuff or similar style?

>>24671354
It's actually one of his best written books. He writes better when he's constrained with a shorter novel compared to his doorstoppers which he normally does.

>>24670828
I'm legitimately not shitposting. The first three books legitimately made me cry during pivotal scenes, especially when the characters are reaching a points of self-actualization. I haven't found a book thats made me feel the same since then.

>>24668507 (OP)
Can't fucking wait.

>>24671668
Those are nice. Are they doing all the books or just the first 6?

>>24670874
>>24671175
i always thought pratchett was reddit. is he not? i went to reddit for book recs for MEN and the next thing after dune was a book series filled with faggotry and gay marriage and i think one troon. i shouldve expected that, so im asking now before i commit.

is pratchett "progressive"?

Well I'm officially finished with Malazan and The Prince of Nothing.
I think I have reached the logical conclusion of modern fantasy.

>>24671767
Please do not ever lump Prince of Shit in with Malazan. Thank you.
-Management

>>24671769
I thought it was OK, not as good as was sold to me, and the writing was way worse than the main Malazan books but it was not bad.
By the end it insisted a bit upon itself but I would read it again as solid mid tier and also far above most other contemporary fantasy offerings, Malazan excluded.

>>24671675
Should be the entire main series. That's the second batch covering 4-6.

>>24671759
Pratchett is progresive but not "progressive" or ((progresive)) if you know what I mean, and he's certainly not reddit.

>>24671759
Rincewind books are kinda shit, but Pratchett is good. Mort or Small Gods are the best intro, imo. Or the whole Watch series, but it isn't as funny, just entertaining fantasy.

Small Gods is probably the best stand alone funny fantasy book I've ever read.

>>24670862
Cleave the Sparrow. Go in blind. It's bizarre and hilarious.
13 & 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear is also pretty good but in a more "heh that's clever" and less laugh out loud manner, and takes a while to get going.

>>24671759
I feel like pratchett is more gamefaqs than anything

>>24671801
at least gamefaqs is informative

>>24671767
Now read Tad Williams' Osten Ard Saga.

>>24671225
>>24671170
I've been doing a read through recently and yeah the original trilogy has so far been good. The first book is a pretty basic DnD type adventure. One thing that stands out in this is how VERY Mormon the Hickmans are. It doesn't detract or anything, it's not like they're using it to preach, but it's also very obvious where their influences came from. It's fun enough. Book 2 "Winters Night" is a HUGE step up in terms of quality. Way more character payoffs. Bigger scale adventure. Genuinely good. I haven't reread Spring Dawning yet. But I do remember liking it as a kid. Dragonlance as a series is something I do have a lot of nostalgia for. I used to live in those books. Its what got me into fantasy on the whole and DnD.

>>24671759
is he progressive? yes he is. He is not woke though, not the modern kind of shit. Bear in mind he died 10 years ago.

His work is timeless anon

>>24671898
yeah same for me, there's a nostalgia factor there no doubt, I'll get them and see if they're their worth still

>>24671921
They're not long reads and they're exactly what they look like. Fun fantasy adventures with charm. I hear a lot of the latter books go to shit but I never read those.

I'm the same anon who asked about Dragolance novels, trying to get a hold on classic fantasy. Thanks for your opinions, now how about picrel?

I remember reading some Corwin back in my time but I don't have a very clear memory either of these ones, are still worth their weight too? thoughts? anyone has re-read them recently?

>>24671932
The latter books are a very mixed bag. With one or two exceptions none of the other authors even get close to the level of Weis and Hickman.

>>24671932
>>24671942
Which latter books? Weis and Hickman wrote several trilogies, up to mainly the Dark Disciple series. They have been writing the past few years too but I haven't read them. I thought that the series maintained the same level of quality throughout.

>>24671952
I heard Summer Flame and beyond weren't terrific. And they put out some new books recently and while I know you shoudln't judge a book by it's cover it combined with the current state of DnD as a whole doesnt fill me with confidence

>>24671952
> I thought that the series maintained the same level of quality throughout.
Agreed. It's safe to assume that everything after Chronicles and Legends is inferior.
> Which latter books?
I honestly can't remember, it was so long ago. There's a fuckton of books that came afterwards trying to cash in. I *think* it was one of the Prelude books that was half-way decent.

>>24671967
Yeah there's like 200 of this fucking things. It's mental. I remember the original chronicles being good, the twins trilogy and after that my mind goes blank. I think they did a next generation?

On Dungeon Crawler Carl book 3. I've enjoyed the series so far and have been breezing through until now. It's all of a sudden a slog. Dinniman sometimes gets into the weeds with the buffs, items, abilities, and "game mechanics" but man is it thick in this one. I keep reading other books and putting this one on the backburner. Might drop the series completely. Please tell me the entertainment continues after this one.

>>24671936
They have a great premise and the opening's of both the Corwin and Merlin books are very kinetic and get you hooked right away and then they quickly start pissing away good will until they end on a wet fart for both series. They're the kind of works that make me want to create headcanon or fanfiction to fix what should be an incredibly captivating story. The Merlin half is the lesser of the two series dealing with less interesting people and questions, getting really bogged down with lore and worldbuilding, and worst of all they're all twice as long as the Corwin novels for reasons I cannot begin to understand.

>>24671967
>Agreed
>doesn't agree with me
question FUCKING mark
>>24671962
I thought Summer Flame/War of Souls/Dark Disciple were all fine. Honestly I liked the stories more than the original which was bog-standard DnD fantasy adventure that normalfags seem to love. The Twins saga was okay. And like I said, Weis/Hickman wrote them so it wasn't as if the quality or content went off in a wholly different direction. I do agree with you about current year DnD.
I did read one of the spinoffs because I didn't know it was written by someone else at the time. I liked it for what it was but the tone was much different/grittier.

>>24671982
The Iron Tangle is when I went from "I like this series" to "I am now going to prioritize the rest of this series as quickly as possible".
Katia going on the Carl+Donut ride is great fun.

>>24671997
Okay, I'll keep going a bit. They haven't fine much together yet. Thanks.

>>24671988
I admit I don't have a lot of recent first hand experience with a lot of them so I could just be repeating noise I read. I'll probably try and give more of them a look after I finish Spring Dawning.

>>24671771
So 4chan likes Malazan because it makes them feel smart? Pretentious af.

Our Tragic Hero - The Mistborn Jordan Peterson
https://youtu.be/U9YYrvSoboI

Mistborn would be better without Mistborn, only the Lord Ruler can burn all metals, and Kelsier and Vin could only burn Atium. Change my mind.

>super speshul precocious boy will make these adults rue the day they underestimated him!
>people are sorted by personality quizzes
>i have a fifteen year old sexy wife who i fuck oh no she died woe is me

Why am I not surprised the man children of this board read this garbage

>>24672446
>>24672569
ROFLMAO tell those fukken 4channers haha xDD

>>24672551
sweaty vin feet in my mouth
choking on grimy vin feet
hoovering the dirt from vin’s toes

Is /sffg/ dead?

>>24672750
looks like it, the malazan redditors will have to go back to r/fantasy

I edited my story to get rid of modern dialogue, as several people here and in /wng/ shat on me for it. Since then I have continued to get new viewers, though I haven't gotten any new comments. Might be because I have spent the past ten days editing book one. But it just as easily might possibly be unironically over for me. Maybe I can't write natural dialogue without ten bussins and sussins thrown in

>>24672750
Not really no.

To be on topic, Bobiverse books are a fun time and better than Malazan. It's mildly cringe/r*ddit for the first 15% of the first book then launches into semi-hard sci-fi. Tldr is that an engineer dude dies in accident, wakes up as von Neumann probe. Author is some sort of engineer/physicist type, so it's reasonably hard science, with a few macguffin hand waves. 5 books out but the first 3 form a coherent, complete story, the rest are just "wow this self published book was successful, guess I'll keep making money" (but also enjoyable).

It's Five Guys of /sffg/, nothing to compare to Wolfe or GGK but fun and not another "brooding anti-hero in grimdark setting"

>>24672818
Is it on Amazon/Goodreads? I'll buy and review if so, I'm a little drunk and and don't mind throwing money at someone trying to write decent sff. Unless it's like $16 for 150 pages or some shit - fuck Martha Wells btw.

>>24671668
Honestly, broken binding charging what they do while just gluing the binding instead of having a sewn one is pretty pathetic.

>>24672823
It’s free to read on Royal Road, I'm finishing up the Amazon shit and hopefully can put it up sometime this week. Ideally for free or as cheap as possible.
https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/93931/born-under-a-black-sun/chapter/1805076/chapter-1
(I too am drunk, by the way)

>>24672842
Sorry not going to read on RR. And I even put a novella of mine on there.

Do you have an epub somewhere? If not, ping the thread when you end up selfpub (I know, it's not as easy as it looks) and I'll give honest feedback. Or hell, I just finished a book, drop an email or other contact and I'll beta read. Can't promise I'll be positive but I'll be honest.

t. Another aspiring author

>>24672926
Thanks, if you’re still around I'll share a completed file once everything is said and done. I still have to combine each chapter into one document and edit it for a book layout instead of Royal Road
t. Drunker than I was forty five minutes ago

>>24672963
Great! If you want an email, bemlti at yahoo, I'll take it. Anyone else who wants to spam it feel free, it's my burner that I've had for like 25 years now (damn I'm old).

I'm rum drunk, hope you're brandy or higher tier drunk bro. Looking forward to it.

>>24671781
>>24671785
>>24671914
thanks goys. i appreciate the genuine replies

>>24672970
Haha, I finished up my union bullshit training and now I'm downing beers in a Fort Lauderdale beach bar. I'm too druk to edit anything, so now I'm posting bait threads on /tv/. I'll keep your email in mind!

>>24671292
le Guin's Earthsea - especially book 1

>>24672750
no. I've been coming here for years and it's one of the main reasons I still come to 4chan. /sffg/ and /vst/. I'm 34 - fuck

>>24672986
very based. have a mojito for me anon

>>24672986
Nice, though Ft Lauderdale has gotta be hot as shit right now. I'm enjoying the second 4 weeks of good weather we get in new england drinking at home with my wife after kiddo is in bed

Godspeed, anon. Pick up a leathery middle aged slut for all of us.

>>24673032
For me, it's /sffg/, /acg/, and /aqg/. 33 and been here for ~18 years. 4chan was never good but it's about the same as it's ever been, maybe more active post-2016 for good or ill.

>>24673032
Stop being old

>>24668610
There are some better picks for left wing speculative fiction writers that are being omitted. In any case, I would probably choose 'right wing' anyway.

>>24673032
>>24673060
Your ages aren't uncommon here now. I'm a good bit older.

>>24673060
>>24673134
Forty Two

>>24673162
>le epic Douglas reference

i hate hardcovers so much

>>24671668
So do you guys actually read special edition releases or are they just shelf decorations

>>24673313
Depends where I am really. Around the house yeah, but if I'm going out I'll take something a bit less expensive.

>>24673288
So is empire of silence actually worth reading? I understand the setting is pure plagiarism, but is the plot and prose still engaging?

>>24673340
plagiarism of what?

>>24673340
Didn't mean to (you), sorry.

Almost done with Morning Star. Really enjoyed the series so far, but I'm sick of Sevro. Most obnoxious character put to paper.

>>24673340
You haven't made your mind up yet despite how much it's been posted about how many others have asked and gotten replies?

>>24673340
watch a youtube summary of EoS and then start from Howling Dark

>>24673354
I don't mind sevro, but he is very overrated by readers. he does not deserve victra thoughever

I find it funny how it's always popular books that people ask whether they're worth reading. Maybe it's just that people who would ask only read the most popular books.

>>24673365
young daoist experiences a moment of enlightenment

>>24673288
I used to feel that way. Now that I want all of Gene Wolfe's work, I want all hardcovers. They last.

>>24673362
Why?

>>24673356
No, only occasional poster so haven't seen anything substantial about it

>>24673384
>Why?
first book is woke

>>24673354
I'm 1/3 through Morning Star and Sevro is starting to become my least favorite character

Why couldn't Subterranean Press do hardcover Limited Editions for Book of the Long Sun and Short Sun?

Folio Society has BOTNS, but probably wouldn't do less popular works of Wolfe.

Subterranean Press, however, did a short story collection for Gene Wolfe recently that collected 6 previously uncollected short stories. These sold out pretty fast, and it was just a random short story collection. Why couldn't they do Long Sun and Short Sun too? I have to imagine they would be even more profitable. Short Sun is desperately in need of better covers as well. The only good one is a 2001 small press omnibus version that has long been out of print.

Books are not meant to be physical objects. Their physicality distracts from their contents. The cover is irrelevant. If it matters so much make your own dust covers or buy one. But no, that would be wrong. They must be purchased from The One True Legitimate Source. It's crazy how much some what their books to represent them.

>>24673437
>Books are not meant to be physical objects
They very much are.

>>24673378
hardcovers are good for collecting, but i prefer the feel of paperbacks.
>>24673384
nothing happens. just start at howling dark and treat everything as in media res. also >>24673399 it is clunky in its progressiveness. Like gay people are just thrown about randomly in many many places in the story. this government official is gay, this random background couple is gay, Hadrian's mom is gay, this powerful ruler guy is married to a faggot and has faggot kids using dna or some shit. the fucking aliens are nonbinary.

>>24673437
It's simple. If the cover is good, it stays. If the cover sucks, I'm making my own.

>>24673437
>Books are not meant to be physical objects.
This might very well be the most idiotic thing I've ever heard

>>24673449
>hardcovers are good for collecting, but i prefer the feel of paperbacks.
I kinda prefer the feel of paperbacks too. It is just that I feel like I have abused the book when I am done with it, which is grating when I especially liked it. With Hardcovers, they can withstand my abuse.

>>24671936

I've only read the Corwin books. I like pretty much everything I've read from Zelazny though. Even if he has more or less the same two characters in every book. The clever trickster who is good in a fight but prefers to get by on wit and the stoic deathgod. Thoth and Set; Sam and Yama; Corwin and Benedict.

>>24673437
>Books are not meant to be physical objects
Is this the final level of Sola Scriptura?

Why would someone say JK Rowling's prose is good? I can't say, personally. I haven't read her since I was a teenager.

>>24673465
It's good prose if you are 8 years old.

>>24673442
No, their physical form is the idol. Do not worship it.

>>24673448
There's nothing wrong with this. It's his property to decide what to do with.

>>24673450
True

>>24673451
My condolences for your blindness, as otherwise you'd have read it rather than heard it.

>>24673461
https://youtu.be/1IAhDGYlpqY

>>24668610
You're missing some of the best RW authors. Neal Stephenson, Cordwainer Smith, Guy Gavriel Kay, and Michel Huellebeq

This is one of the better books I've read as of late. I'm a little exited to say as much, because it feels like I haven't read something this magical in a while.
It's hard to describe, because, yes, a lot of books I've read had magic in them. But it's either Tolkien-esque trolls and elves. Or it's got the D&D feel.(which is pretty much the same thing as Tolkien) Or the authors are hiding the magic away, only saving it for key moments. While this book actually puts some effort into building a world where magic is woven into the fiber. And it has a more fable feel to it. Like a fairy tale quality to it.

I picked it up on the description alone. It looked a little girly, so I checked the tags for the typical chick lit stuff. I didn't see any, so I pulled the trigger.

When I began the book, I thought I made a mistake. Because there were some bad signs. Like the descriptions of men are very female-gaze. You know the way female writers write men. And another sign was the random mention of scents. Men somehow smelling of "cinnamon and sweat". She actually used those terms.
However, those were false signals. As those are the only aspects that read like chick lit. Mere physical descriptions of men. The rest is nothing like that.

The story is about court intrigue within a strange world, with strange rules of government, that could only exist in a world where magic is real. It finds a good balance between the practical and the supernatural, that just works.
I like how the start of the book is unconventional. No hero's journey here. It feels fresh. And even though it's only part 1 of what will soon become a series, it still wrapped up nicely. There were many revelations in the end that made sense when all the pieces came together. Making you go "ohh, I see now". Good pay offs.

I'm not saying it's a perfect book or anything. It's just nice and satisfying. I feel like something was missing from my literary diet. And this book nourished that deficit.

>>24672838
You're basically paying for the artist and perceived exclusivity. Don't look up for what they go second hand aka re-sellers.

>>24671932
It's funny Dragonlance was the only D&D campaign setting where the novels were more popular than the game itself.

What is the Gurren Lagann of sffg books?

>>24673601
Mistborn but somehow it's even more cringe.

What is some non-sff which sff likes?
>pic unrelated

>>24673601
Fuck that, what's the Genocyber of sff?

I have never read a book in my life boys.

>>24673601
Cradle.

>>24668910
Being a salt-of-the-earth blue collar worker with no time for or interest in politics

>>24673340
Plagiarism complaints are overplayed here. There are a lot of elements that you'll be familiar with from other SF/space opera but it's very much its own story. First book is the weakest in the series, has some token gays. It's not terrible but every other book in the series clears it easily. If you hate it but like the world then watch the synopsis on the author's youtube and then start howling dark.

>>24673354
>>24673364
Sevro was cool in Golden Son but his quirks get annoying fast, especially with how moody he is in the sequels. Victra should've married Cassius and Sevro should've been Lysander's surrogate dad

>>24673449
The aliens are hermaphrodites, they're only nonbinary in the sense that they don't have separate sexes. They have a limited conception of gender that's linked to power and submission; only rarely does Hadrian call a Cielcin by a pronoun other than "it"

>>24673718
>Plagiarism complaints are overplayed here. There are a lot of elements that you'll be familiar with from other SF/space opera but it's very much its own story
Nigga he lifts things DIRECTLY from better writers. There's one chapter in Demon in White where the first paragraph is just the opening narration from War of the Worlds.

>>24673720
Lysander would be even more of psycho if Sevro adopted him. Plus Sevro would kill him asap

>>24673755
>Lysander
must die desu

Just finished Proven Guilty, book 7 in the Dresden Files. It’s some peak slop but does Dresden ever lose the redditor quip bullshit or does that keep going

>>24673720
>>24673354
>>24673409
>>24673364
Sevro should’ve died instead of Pax in the first book. Authors killing off the sweet big retard instead of the edgy midget is always a bad move

>>24673803
>sevro dies
>victra settles to become apart of darrows harem

>>24672750
I'm hanging out on webnovel threads mostly. I guess some posters went on making other solo threads as I see in the catalog.
Bakker and Malazan fans won , we all went away.

fekin loving King of Thorns and fekin loving Jong of Ancrath and his gang, ruthless bastards

Kill red rising fans. Behead red rising fans. Roundhouse kick red rising fans into the concrete. Slam dunk red rising fans into the trashcan. Crucify red rising fans. Defecate in red rising fans food. Launch red rising fans into the Sun. Stir fry red rising fans in a wok. Toss red rising fans into active volcanoes. Urinate on red rising fans. Judo throw red rising fans into a wood chipper. Twist red rising fans heads off. Karate chop red rising fans in half. Curb stomp red rising fans. Trap red rising fans in quicksand. Crush red rising fans in the trash compactor. Liquefy red rising fans in a vat of acid. EAT red rising fans. Dissect red rising fans. Exterminate red rising fans in the gas chamber. Stomp red rising fans skulls with steel toed boots. Cremate red rising fans in the oven. Lobotomize red rising fans. Mandatory abortions for red rising fans. Grind red rising fans fetuses in the garbage disposal. Drown red rising fans in fried chicken grease. Vaporize red rising fans. Kick old red rising fans down the stairs. Feed red rising fans to alligators.

>>24673916
red rising mentioned

>BEST NOVEL: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett (WHITE MALE)
thanks for not warning me that the mc was a fag

>>24668610
Hat on the right.

>>24673972
You should've deduced something was up when a white man won a Hugo at all.

>>24670862
Harry Harrison. Planet of the Damned, Planet of No Return; Bill the Galactic Hero (on the Planet of Bottled Brains!); most of the Stainless Steel Rat series. Quick, light reads that tend to be very amusing. They aren't outright comedy, except for Bill in some ways, but they were funny.

>>24673799
It only gets worse

>>24673972
mate. why did you think a white male won?

>>24671326
This. I read like 8 or so of sword of truth just because I wanted to see how it would end and some of the characters are alright, then just gave up

>>24668610
How is Herbert right wing. I see a lot who hate him for his portrayal of religion.

>>24674368
homophobe, republican, hated welfare etc

>>24674189
Goddamn

I met a girl yesterday and she rec'd me some books

>City of Stairs
>The Priory of the Orange Tree
>Cloud Cuckoo Land

Having read none of these, how is her taste?

>>24674435
>priory of the orange tree
goodreadsesque

>>24674435
>City of Stairs
I'm reading this right now. It's interesting so far.

>>24674442
>What do you mean you don't have Goodreads account? You need to get one and follow me

Damn, how'd you know she said that to me?

Any books where the ragtag group of rebels losses to the tyrant/authoritarian government?

>>24674435
Not great, not terrible. An eclectic mix, certainly not the usual tik-tok recommended trash.

>>24674451
Eh, I have an account but only to keep an ever expanding list of want to read.

>>24674457
>looking for tropes
read brandon sanderson

>>24674457
mistborn

>>24674469
>>24674467
But he said loses

>>24674435
Priori of the Orange Tree is some LBGTQ+ "cozy" fantasy stuff?

>>24673743
>One paragraph in a 750 page book
I don't love it but you're acting like he never wrote the other 749+ pages, complete with their own massive scale space opera worldbuilding and conflict

>>24674472
He also never said that had to be the end of the story.

>>24673755
I'm not seeing the downside tbqhwy, would make Lysander's actions more believable

>>24674535
Nta but it's a "feminist retelling" of St. George and the dragon. Supposedly it's good but I can't trust anyone who would read lesbian epic fantasy to begin with. Also the page immediately before chapter one has a quote from the Book of Revelation, which pissed me off since the Bible probably doesn't exist in-world

>>24674368
>How is Herbert right wing.
I used to know an unironic nazi who liked Herbert because his books are apparently pro-eugenics.

>>24674545
>it's okay to plagiarize if you only do it a little
Do we need to go over the parts where he lifts a conversation from Shadow of the Torturer or when he ripped off the waiting room from Claw of the Conciliator?
>b-but the rest of the book
If you commit a crime you can't tell the judge "but I didn't commit all these other crimes I could've", you're still guilty you piece of shit and the same goes for plagiarism, Ruocchio does it and he's not worth reading because HE HIMSELF DIDN'T CONSIDER THE STORY WORTH WRITING WHEN HE CHOSE TO USE OTHER PEOPLE'S WORK
Fuck Ruocchio, God made him lose his hair for a reason (going bald is a sign you've sinned)

>>24674435
City of Stairs is fine. The Priory of the Orange Tree is gay and constantly shilled on r/fantasy.

>>24674562
If you're going to read a retelling of historical events, pick a good retelling like pic related

>>24674535
>>24674562
She also disliked Mistborn but said it was because "the female protagonist spends most of the book having the magic system mansplained to her by several guys rather than show-don't-tell." That's actually one thing I thought Sanderson did well was show some of Kelsier's fight scenes early on to show how the magic system worked, then explained it in autistic depth later.

She also thinks Rowling has amazing prose and read her non-harry potter books and talks about how great she is "despite being a terrible person." I was really tempted to ask her if she actually read Rowling's rather tame blogposts or if she was just told what to think about her by other people. But I honestly think Rowling got radicalized by the people who didn't read her blog and turned herself into the monster they wanted her to be.

>>24674571
That's the guy's problem, not Herbert's.

>>24674581
>show don't tell
lol
i immediately thought of the scene where kelsier slaps vin off that tall wall/building whatever and tells her good luck on intuiting her powers to survive

>>24674581
Not gonna lie, I'd find her to be insufferable but good luck man

>>24674535
What if St. George was a black lesbian?

>>24674575
I don't like that he interpolates passages from his influences into his work. It's his worst quality, especially as he's perfectly capable of writing compelling SFF without his heckin easter eggs, as evidenced by the 99% of his books that he did write himself. The waiting room sequence in Howling Dark didn't make or break the book. March Station, Kharn Sagara's court, Brethren, and the battle of the Demiurge did
>going bald is a sign you've sinned
He'd probably agree with you lmao

>>24674609
>Your honor, what about all those 99% of cars that I didn't steal?

>>24674581
she requires correction

>>24674590
Thanks but it's not like that. She's a quirk chungus I met at a research conference and we have mutual friends who are also into sff, that's all. If it weren't for the fact that she mentioned an exboyfriend, I'd think she's a lesbian. The Rowling fangirling is what surprises me more than anything else. Besides she (business) travels way too much to date lol.
>>24674585
Haha TRUE. I have mixed feelings on Sanderson, but it's weird hearing these complaints when another fairly left-wing chick I know loves Mistborn so much.
>>24674613
Uncorrected brats are my greatest weakness, but I think I'll regrettably have to pass on this one.

>>24674610
The story of Sun Eater is fundamentally different then those he borrows from. Your analogy is nonsensical.

https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/2025/08/so-is-ai-writing-any-good-part-2.html?m=1

Will you be able to tell which stories are AI written and which are by established authors?

>>24674624
Right now, AI can write a few good paragraphs but there isn't enough memory to write a coherent story that doesn't eventually contradict itself. That'll probably change with time though.

>>24674628
It's a quiz of flash fiction stories, which are 350 words each.

>>24674621
I didn't say the story is fundamentally the same, I said he PLAGIARIZED, which he did. Undeniably. When you take someone else's writing and pass it off as your own, you commit plagiarism. You don't get away with it by just saying "but the rest of my story isn't plagiarized"

>>24674638
Authors have been borrowing, referencing, and recontextualizing each others' work for millennia. Sun Eater is not an especially offensive example of this, particularly in a genre as incestuous as SFF. Moreover, he's not passing anything off as his own, since the passages he lifts are meant to be noticed by readers familiar with his influences. Again, I don't care for that sort of easter egg placement, but acting like it's some sort of criminal conspiracy that invalidates the entire work is absurd.
If he didn't plagiarize, would you like the series?

>>24674546
Okay fine, a book where the ragtag group of rebels lose definitely by the end or mid story.

>>24674663
I already like the series. If I didn't like, I wouldn't give a shit. Fuck Ruocchio. By making me like his series (which is plagiarizing other, better writers) he has made me complicit in his immoral behavior.
Oh and also
>Your honor, I can't be convicted of this crime because other people before me have also committed crimes

>>24674728
>I like the series
>Fuck Ruocchio
I kneel. See you in November for Shadows Upon Time.

>>24674755
Shan't be reading it in November, I'll wait for the little paperback.

>>24674757
>mass markets
I think the publisher discontinued those. They ended up as an awkward middle ground between digital (affordable) and hardback (collectable). I think they do trade paperback reprints though

>>24674688
Not SFF but The War at the End of the World by Mario Vargas Llosa

>>24674779
I've got six books in one format and you're telling me I can't have the seventh in the same? Yet another reason to hate Ruocchio and his shenanigans

Fantasy books for this feeling?

>>24674873
Malazan

>>24674873
The Dragon Waiting by John M. Ford.

Is the Wheel of Time series worth reading? I'm either going to take a stab at this or Discworld.

>>24675004
I've read all of both series (parts of them more than once), Discworld is what I would recommend, lower barrier of entry, less commitment, more variety and freedom to choose which books to read

>>24675004
If you are looking for a relatively cosy long ass fantasy epic where the characters become like old friends to you because you spend so much time reading about them, then yes, give it a go.

>>24675004
>Is the Wheel of Time series worth reading?
No. I'll echo what someone always says: WoT was simply in the right place at the right time.

Discworld is much more difficult to say because it's kinda all over the place and there's no single continuity.

Even for a fictional science fiction setting this is absolutely pants-on-head retarded. Just think about it. It's thoroughly established throughout the text that the only real, useful effective weapon for fighting in this universe is the personal sword. Every soldier depicted his primary armament is a fighting sword and a personal energy shield that can be pierced by a sword if done in just such a manner.

>But anon laser weapons!
Laser weapons (lasguns) are obsolete in the Dune universe because they are incompatible with personal body shields (something every soldier in the Empire/Landsraad is issued with by default).The interaction between a lasgun beam and a shield results in a catastrophic, NUCLEAR-LEVEL EXPLOSION, making their use mutually suicidal and thus, militarily impractical. This inherent danger led to the re-emergence of slower-moving weapons, like blades and Maula pistols (glorified slingshots/pelt throwers.)

Okay? You with me here? It's never explicitly stated how many Fremen exist on Arrakis (I've seen spitballed numbers as high as fifteen million) which is in of itself a paltry sum of warriors if we're talking about a galactic empire filled with hundreds if not thousands of inhabited planets.

The ENTIRETY of Paul's legions are FREMEN. Fremen from Arrakis. A couple million fervent religious fanatics with swords and slingshots with access to interstellar travel.

Now, I hear you say "muh family atomics tho!" Yes, the Atreides family has something like, 100 atomic warheads to their name, yield and blast radius etc. Is never mentioned so w/e.

Okay, given the fact that the Jihad legions are probably a few million soldiers tops all armed with swords, personal shields, slingshots and an arsenal of a hundred nukes at their back then get this:

Muad'Dib's Jihad resulted in a CONSERVATIVE estimate of 61 billion casualties, with 90 planets sterilized (THAT MEANS COMPLETELY WIPED OF LIFE), 500 others demoralized, and 40 religions eradicated. The massive death toll was likely a consequence of widespread orbital bombardment (USING WHAT!? A HUNDRED NUKES!?), as well as other extreme military actions taken by the Fremen legions to subdue the universe. (Ahhh, yes the extreme "run at them with swords and slingshots technique) this all happened over a period of about twelve years btw.

Ahem... IT'S NOT FUCKING POSSIBLE YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKER, IT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE WHATSOEVER!!! WEEEEEE, WE FLEW ACROSS THE GALAXY WITH OUR KNIVES AND SUCCESSFULLY CUT 60 BORGORRILLIAN THROATS!!! THEY LITERALLY SAT THERE AND LET US DO IT BECAUSE THE ENTIRE LANDSRAAD (EACH FAMILY HAS A NUCLEAR ARSENAL OF THEIR OWN BTW FOR DEFENSE) WAS JUST SO SHOCKED BY THE BATTLE OF ARAKEEN THAT THEY JUST COULDN'T EVEN BRING THEMSELVES TO GET UP AND FIGHT!!!!

FUCK YOU, THE JIHAD NEVER HAPPENED, THEY DIDN'T HAVE THE PROPER MEANS OF PULLING INSANE KILL NUMBERS LIKE THAT OFF!!

IT'S A FABRICATION, A FILTHY STINKING FREMNIGGER LIE! THE JIHAD NEVER FUCKING HAPPENED!

>>24675004
Refer to
>>24673365
>>24673356

>>24675055
I am ready to make concessions for believable world building at the expense of cool knife fights in space.

>>24675067
YWNBABG
You Will Never Be A Bene Gesserit

>>24674575
>wolfefag chimping out
Many such cases

>>24674368
>How is Herbert right wing
Worships jews, the cornerstone of right wing muttland ideology

>>24668610
>Herbert
I want all directionbrainers killed

>Come and enter Samuel Delany’s tomorow, in this trilogy of high adventure, with acrobats and urchins, criminals and courtiers, fishermen and factory-workers, madmen and mind-readers, dwarves and ducheses, giants and geniuses, merchants and mathematicians, soldiers and scholars, pirates and poets, and a gallery of aliens who fly, crawl, burrow, or swim.
Is it good?

>>24675215
Hogg is his magnum opus actually.

>>24674624
I only got 4/8 correct and the one I liked the most was AI. Grim.
It's 4 AI written flash fiction and then one of each from Robin Hobb, Janny Wurts, Miles Cameron, and Mark Lawrence.

it stinks

>>24675215
have you read dhalgren

>>24675004
it's essential incel core

>>24671143
GENE WOLFE! Not Wolf Gene

>>24671769
>>24671771
Mezla bros, is Esslemont worth it?
>read first 5 malazan books, with breaks, liking it a lot
>after a significant break from 5,try Esslemont's Night of Knives
>seems unreadable, just can't focus, not even sure it's the prose
>read other stuff, return to malaz 6, Bonehunters, it's great, a bit meh in the end but fine
>now I am hyped for the world but don't want to dive into another 1200pager with Reaper's Gale
Should I give Night of Knives a second go? It's pretty short. What about his later books?

>Try to read a Malazan book
>Here are our characters: Happy, Sleepy, Grumpy, Dopey, Sneezy, Hungry, and Skelethrone Thunderfist.
I...I can't.

>>24675412
It's the last good Hyperion book, lmao. You don't know suffering until you read this faggy sucker.

All that Hyperion proves is that people like short stories a lot, but at the same time, have a fixation on buying novels rather than short story collections.

>>24675732
Sounds like the solution should be fix-ups.

>>24675782
Sorry, best I can do is Romantasy

>>24673437
>The cover is irrelevant
When I stop a book to reflect on what I just read, I usually close the book with a finger holding the page and look at the cover as I think. If the cover is shit, it hurts this process immensely.

>>24675859
That's and idiotic and superficial reaction, which speaks badly of you.

>>24675895
I am sorry that you feel that way.

Who thought this cover was a good idea?

>>24675412
>>24675729
I enjoyed them both, though Hyperion is far better than either.

>>24675990
>we need the gay porn audience

>>24675990
holy kino

>get the name of the wind
>oh boy i can't wait to read this old warlock's whole life story of adventures
>it's just about a smart kid in university

>>24674873
Hour of the Dragon

>>24675102
Gene Wolfe did not write War of the Worlds

>>24676303
>a smart kid
No, the smartest kid who ever smarted

>>24673972
It was a really good book despite that fact.

>>24676178
9 times out of 10 this is the writer's pet and/or mouthpiece

>>24676303
The smartest and cuckest kid

What would your ideal fantasy novel be like? Just a standalone mind you, not a series trying to cash in on anything.

>>24677233
I like fantasy with interesting gods. Growing up I was obsessed with Greek mythology so things that have an interesting pantheon that cause dramas, are powerful and present in the story always gets me excited. I find a lot of gods in fantasy are usually muted, dead or an epic evil.

Gods that have their own agendas, can manifest and interact with the characters will always be kino to me. It feels rare as well unless I'm missing some books.

>>24677343
Well there's always Malazan

Curabunda

>>24677355
Yeah I'm slowly getting through it. The gods are present right now but still playing it low.

Have my sffg anons read Beyond Apollo yet?

I have a question about something from the first few twot books.
Were the nobles from Cairhien supposed to be that comically dumb about their great game or it was Rand's Tarvereness pushing things along so he would get the invitation he needed?
I'm getting the impression it was also what got Thom's girlfriend killed, just so he would be free from that whole "marrying a young hot thing madly in love with him" nonsense and get back to being the Merlin to Rand's Arthur.

>>24673340
So I loved all of Sun Eater after book 2 onwards, people shit on book 5 a bit but even that and 6 were still quite good. Even if it sticks the landing, which it likely will, Sun Eater is largely derivative of Dune at first but I think forms it's own identity along the way. Hadrian Marlowe is a strange Skywalker/Severian/Eren Jaeger(?) Type MC. Characters like Khan Sugara being long lived from ancient times (which is contemporary 2000s, Sun Eater is 20,000 years ahead iirc) and essentially digitally immortal was cool. There are many themes on tech advancement, soul philosophy, religion, I actually think Sun Eater is a decent attempt for a new age young author but I don't think it can stand up to the Great Works. We are missing them still, it's a fun space opera romp, with occasional philosophy.
Also I audioed them fwiw, book 4 is my fav. The audio bookcovers are atrocious hahaha the narration excellent

>>24671759
Yes and no. He's got an old prog mindset, and some of it is annoying if you actually bother thinking about what he's saying and how he lived himself but it's also usually not a real focus of the books, often it's less him forcing views on you and having his characters hold them, and his views are different enough that you can quote some of his books verbatim and it will piss off modern "progressives" so there's that.
Only really the last 2-3 books or so I would say get noticeably bad about it and honestly those feel the most like they're ghostwritten by others because the old characters don't act at all like the previous books and there's even rants about random shit that doesn't sound like his own views like in the last Science of the Disk book. (he couldn't even type or differentiate letters at that point and had to dictate them "with help" from what I understand)
t. someone whose been a fan of his going back 27 years.

>>24675215
delany is a degenerate gay pedo nigger that writes filthy liberal trash
>>24675418
Dont listen to this anon.
>>24675241
And this faggot is trolling.

Just finished The darkness that comes before. Am i right in thinking that this was just the prologue? Not bad by any means but I cant help but feel like we've just set up the table - does the ball gets rolling from there?

>>24677567
>is the first book in a series essentially a prologue to the entire series?
Are you being retarded on purpose?

>>24677374
Haven't read any Malzberg yet, but Bookpilled keeps shilling this guy, and he usually has pretty good taste and judgement when it comes to retro scifi... so I'll probably read some Malzberg at some point purely based on the Bookpilled recommendation. Now get out your pitchforks and torches for implying that one of the book youtubers actually knows what he's talking about GASP

>>24677612
I too have seen "I Have a New Favorite Science Fiction Author [100 Book Challenge #91-93]" thanks to the algorithm

>>24677551
>And this faggot is trolling
Fuck you, PHILISTINE

>>24677551
dhalgren is good though (once you filter out all the gay sex)

>>24677233
Lesbian Rape Conversion. Make that the core theme of the entire book.

Society is being policed by "angels", who imprison any man or woman found to have had heterosexual sex. Babies are removed from the prisons at birth, and raised separately with men taught that sex is dirty and wrong, and women taught to be lesbians. The plot is around a male laborer who stumbles into the underground rebellious group who kidnap young women and "convert" them to being straight. In the end it turns out the angels know about the group and carefully manage it to ensure slow population decline, for inscrutable reasons.

And call it "Billy and the Sapphisaurus"

>>24677828
>Billy and the Sapphisaurus

>>24677828
Vonnegut already did this. Welcome to the Monkey House. Main character's name is even Billy.

>>24675990
I feel like fantasy novel cover artists actively try to create the covers people would be most embarrassed to be seen reading on public.

>>24675728
They're army nicknames. How about:
>Kalam
>Corrab Bhin Thenualas
>Coltaine
>Mappo Runt
>Tavore Paran
>Karsa Orlong
>Hellian
Also, great action, slick prose, impactful weaving of themes in the plot, sincere in its grim depictions, indefatigable in its lauding of empathy

>>24677567
It's more like part 1 of 3. The Prince of Nothing was planned as one book (itself part of a planned trilogy) that got so big it was split in three
>>24677573
No, some series have volumes with their own resolutions and completed arcs

>>24674873
Wheel of Time, notably the Battle of Cairhien and the Altaran Campaign, and perhaps the Battle of Falme as well though that was much smaller in scale than the other two. The Battle of Malden might also count but it was more of a one-sided rout. Tons of battles in Wheel of Time but most of them are against shadowspawn rather than between two human armies. The ones we see, anyway.

>>24677958
No Dumai's Wells?

>>24677964
Dumai's Wells was a slaughter, tens of thousands of regular fighting men turned to paste by the One Power, not the kind of pitched battle the image depicts.

>>24677380
Yes to all of that

>>24677820
And filter out that the main character is a gay nigger and most likely a younger version of Delany.

>>24676303
The first book was pretty compelling, it was the second book where a lot of people got frustrated with Rothfuss. The first book covering his early life is to be expected. It lays the groundwork for what comes later: his adult years where he does all that shit that makes him notorious. Except book 2 is just more teenage kvothe faffing around in University having adventures that he never spoke about before thus making them entirely apocryphal to the legendary figure that he is, and not what this story is supposed to be about. People went into Wise Man's Fear expecting the true meat of the story and instead they got filler.

>>24677380
>Were the nobles from Cairhien supposed to be that comically dumb about their great game or it was Rand's Tarvereness pushing things along so he would get the invitation he needed
It's a bit of comedy where Rand's bluff countrified mannerisms are misread by Cairhienin high society as subtle political maneuvers. But yes, him being Ta'veren is the convenient explanation for why he was paid so much unwarranted attention in the first place. Though it should also be noted that Moiraine deliberately tried to make him appear like an Andoran nobleman before he left Fal Dara. All his coaching with Lan to act like a Warder or at least a military man added to his fine clothing and heron mark sword caused people to assume a lot of things about him at first glance, and a glance is all Ta'veren influence needs to fan the flames into something bigger.

>I'm getting the impression it was also what got Thom's girlfriend killed, just so he would be free from that whole "marrying a young hot thing madly in love with him" nonsense and get back to being the Merlin to Rand's Arthur.
You might think so, but Thom's path diverges from Rand's after book 2, and they are seldom ever together in the same place again. Thom has more overall time with Mat and Elayne than he does with Rand.