Thread 24857197

What's the appeal?

It combines melancholy and world weariness with scifi. Honestly i think its the perfect fit for the times we live in, despite its genre creation being in the 20th century. cyberpunk is dead, dying earth fits more with the future from 2025.

climate change, resource depletion, AI extinction, take your pic on how the world is slowly ending

>>24857197 (OP)
it does look interesting

>>24857197 (OP)
That cover has absolutely nothing to do with any of the stories.

>>24857197 (OP)
Wonderful writing. Imaginative situations, humour, brevity and wit. If you enjoy fantasy this is a great book to pick up.

>>24857281
No, but it does get the concept of the world across.

The first book appeals because it is the most influential fantasy work written after LOTR, the other books appeal because they’re funny as hell

>>24857452
I like the part where a lonely wizard vat-grows a green haired waifu. It was truly ahead of its time.

>>24857739
Did you finish the first book? The later ones are much better, but the first one was definitely ahead of its time and mogs most fantasy slop to this day

>>24857781
I don't remember. I got to the last story and part way through got very bored. I also thought the ending to t'sais' story was underwhelming, she was funnier and a roving magical woman looking for the meaning of beauty and love through violence.

Eyes of the overworld was fun, but encoding issues on the copy I had made me give up after a few chapters.

>>24857781
Opposite. The first one is the best and they get slowly worse. The Rhialto stories blow

>>24857211
But there is also a wistful wonder in it. Millions of things have come and gone and the scattered remains inspire awe as much as dread.

>>24857464
IDK From my recollection overtly recognizable technology was more on the rare side and it was more medieval with some things either being sufficient advanced enough to apear like fantasy magic in an alchemical/metaphysical way or are the product of some unknown development, whether alien, pseudo-magical, or evolutionary.
I think both images in pic related give a better sense of things.
>>24857781
ALthough I agree on a technical level the later books are more impressive, I find the sense of whimsy more raw in the original collection, even if the writing is a bit more jank (its adds to the charm)

>>24857197 (OP)
Quirky characters and dialogue. Thematic lessons about good and evil, greed vs guile, a world where magic, math, and technology interchange seamlessly. Kind of wish there were dozens of more stories in its vein.

>>24857892
>writing is a bit more jank
I wouldn't even call it jank because it implies that it's accidental instead of intentional. His invention of new words fit the setting he was inventing, and that's not something that gets deployed correctly often. Like with roqual you can kind of navigate what meanings the word had based on its use in imagery and it has an exotic, sharp flavor that supplies the scenery of flora excellently.

>>24857892
It's sad how we rarely see cover art like what used to be on sci-fi and fantasy paperbacks.

>>24857197 (OP)
Same dystopian catharsis as cyberpunk but with a dash of humor. Copied by Heavy Metal types even.

>>24857931
I totally agree that a lot of the obscure verbiage was intentional, and has the wanted effect, especially when it comes to descriptions, but I do think the dialogue could have used some tuning even if It was intended to be obscure. sometimes I think it came off a bit too synthetically formal. Though I do think it adds to the epic quality of the dialogue.

And least from my memory. Im fine with the formality of it, but there was a bit that felt a bit amateurish in its delivery that was improved by the time of Eyes of the Overworld.

>>24857931
This is a good dying earth feeling Artpiece