/SFFg/ - Science Fiction and Fantasy General

Never Go Full Anime Edition
>current read
>what's it about
>next read
>total books explored so far for 2017

FANTASY
Selected:
>imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21329.jpg
General:
>imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21328.jpg
Flowchart:
>imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21327.jpg

SCIENCE FICTION
Selected:
>imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21326.jpg
>imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21331.jpg
General:
>imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21332.jpg
>imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21330.jpg

NPR's Top 100 Science Fiction & Fantasy Books:
>imgoat.com/uploads/6d767d2f8e/21333.jpg

SF&F author listing with ratings and summaries:
>greatsfandf.com/authors-full-list.php

Previous Threads:

Other urls found in this thread:

discord.gg/KxPGpmU
rizon.net/chat
twitter.com/SFWRedditGifs

First for Shallan’s sweaty unwashed stinky safehand.

>/SFFg/
You're a sweetheart.

/sffg/, we are going to make a short fiction anthology.

>does this mean I should post my ideas
No. Talk about them on IRC, the channel is #sffg-antho on the Rizon server.
>but it's a really good idea
Let's not summon the haters.
>where should I submit them
Pastebin them and link them on IRC. They will then be shredded by other anons so you can get defensive and stutter about how it's actually good and they're bad people for not loving it, and then get over it and make your story good.
>what should I submit
Nobody cares as long as it's not boring and it is SFF.
>when should I submit it by
February 14th.

>Nobody cares as long as it's not boring and it is SFF.
I only read deep, boring dry fantasy.

webnovels are NOT novels and NOT /sffg/

What's the word limit?

You can't stop anyone, nerd

35-40k? A couple of novellas could be nice, but longer stories are more likely to be viewed as boring and rejected out of hand.

Oh, feel free to submit a bunch of different stories under a bunch of different pseudonyms, or just anonymously. This will be an all-user project, nobody gets to boost their brand with it or make any money off it.

i tried looking for sffg-antho on some IRC website but i dont even know if it was the right website or whatever a rizon server is and i just got lost so i basically gave up.
choose a less difficult place to find for submissions or link to it or something.

tenth for webnovels are novels too

What I am for boys?
Do you...even know what IRC is?

1. Install Hexchat
2. Run Hexchat
3. When it starts up, it will present a list of networks. Find Rizon.
3a. If the network list does not show up, find it in the menu under HexChat->Network List.
4. Another window will ask you what channel you wish to join. #sffg-antho

Of course they don't, that's why they keep begging for ebook links.

I just finished the first Malazon book. I knew what I was getting into, but I think I'm getting tired of high fantasy of this level. Gods, ultra-magic and needing so many books to tell a story. It's just unnecessary. I have an informal book club with a friend though, and I promised we'd at least read two since people say it gets better. I do dislike active Gods, it somehow feels juvenile and lazy.

I'm currently reading Oathbringer. Hopefully it'll cheer me up! I enjoyed the first two a lot. Hope fucking Shallan won't turn into an annoying attention whore.

;)

She turns into three.

This book is fucking terrible. This is my second "cyberpunk" (which this barely qualifies as) book after Snowcrash. If this is really the best the sub-genre has to offer I fear for it.

Put it on the discord
discord.gg/KxPGpmU
but you'll never know about the higher-level IRC discussions and it has never been easier in the history of mankind to figure out what IRC is you human turd

>not reading the sprawl trilogy first
You fucked up

well good luck with that. and good luck getting submissions.
>books explored so far
r.a. salvatore is pretty good. hopefully the cleric quintet can live up to the hype.

Neuromancer was pretty bad man. So bad I had forgotten I had read it. Points for creativity though I guess. I just have to accept there is some fetishism in cyberpunk I don't understand and it's not about the story telling, literary value, immersion (contrary to what people claim), or even moral compass of the sub-genre.

I read The Cloud Of Hate (1963) a Fafhrd and Gray Mouser tale from Fritz Leiber. In an underground vault in Lankhmar, an evil cult summons a fog serpent which begins to creep through the evening streets.

The short story contrasts horrific and humorous scenes. We see the progress of the malevolent cloud as it possesses the various criminals and low-lives in its path; meanwhile, Fafhrd and Gray Mouser bicker and grumble about their lack of fortune in front of a brazier. We get a keen sense of the debauched Lankhmar nightlife, and the amiable friendship of its pair of protagonists. The climactic fight sequence is as good as ever from Leiber, with a memorable monster at its centre. This is one of the better F+GM tales and good entertainment. 4/5 dinosaurs.

Alright discord babbies

*************************************************
CLICK HERE -> rizon.net/chat
*************************************************
Type a random name into the "Nickname" field
VERY IMPORTANT vvvvvvvv
Type #sffg-antho into the "Channel" field
VERY IMPORTANT ^^^^^^^^
CLICK CONNECT!
YAY! :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

>having to explain IRC to newfags
i pity you user.
just let them figure it out.
its not like its actually hard or anything.

What if we don't hold their hands and we miss out on their valuable underaged submissions though?

what are some good short 250 pages or less books you guys would recommend?
seems like everything recommended here requires months to read through.

Well Netflix sure thinks it's good enough for a series, and we all know how high that threshold is.

But for reals, does it at least have good imagery or gimmicks? I really want a cyberpunk TV show, and a few good combat cyborgs with high impulse weapon systems and rain coats will carry me through any shit plot that it most definitely has. Just reading the dustcover was bad. 500 year old samurai warrior solves a murder of an immortal vampire king nonsense.

s-should I make another aspiring author meme?

Broken Sword
Face in the Frost
The King of Elfland's Daughter
Nightfall and Other Stories
The Door into Summer
A Night in the Lonesome Octobor

That would be useless, since
1. Participants would be actual authors, not merely aspiring
2. This is an /sffg/ project, not an attempt to bloat some user's ego
3. You've already made several and they don't work, threats notwithstanding

How about you stop trying to be dictator of the general and just let people do things you don't like?

At least she cares.

That is what the OP's image says.
>no one cares

The prose is decent, and the only place in which I believe the book stands out. All I can say is this book in conjunction with a few others (liberally labeled "cyberpunk") has made me acknowledge the possibility that Sci Fi is not for me. I can't really answer your question on gimmicks because the book barely makes any use of the world around it the protagonist. It really depends on how gimmicky you want it to be and what gimmicks you want to see. It's by the numbers noir generica that could have taken place in almost any other setting. It feels like it was a free write and it was written beat by beat and the author didn't even look back. It requires a level of turning your brain off I'm just not used to. I don't hate Sci Fi btw. I really enjoyed Hyperion and a few others, but this book honestly has me a little afraid to pick up another sci fi book. It's holding me hostage and not in a god way.

>#sffg-antho
>not #sffg-anthro

I don't understand the insistence on irc in a post-discord reality

yes, no one has ever made good literature and been bad at irc at the same time, they are very closely connected

One is a standardized communications protocol that is implemented by a variety of open and proprietary clients for a fully customizable experience. The other is a nonstandard botnet protocol implemented by a single botnet provider for one awful botnet experience.

Can anyone rec me a book that has a similar narrative / tone / setting to Dark Souls? Thanks

Some people don't have enough RAM to run Discord, It's awfully unoptimized.

Well when I use my filters to autobump sffg to the top, I use the i flag on /sffg/ which is the case insensitive filter.
The #ebooks channel on IRCHighway is the single biggest source of easily pirated fiction ebooks in existence. Simply @search any author or book and paste a line from the .txt sent to you in order to download a book instantly.

Bummer. When I look for cyberpunk, I like a good new take on the possibility of technology. You can make all sorts of awful terrible things to inflict on people, like people being hardwired together as computers, limbs being replaced with concealed weapons, some sort of hyper toxic environment that forces robotification, under ground Android fight clubs, giant birthing tanks full of body parts. You know, cool bits.

When you put that kind of book on screen, a cool visual adaptation if one of those ideas can go really far. But it sounds like a detective kinda story with robots, not a crazy robot world with detectives. When you do a TV show you want to use the greater world as the starting point, instead of just following the books storyline. If that makes sense.

try upgrading past a single 4gb stick, grandpa

Since the people here (including myself) actually enjoy reading genre fiction, I want to ask what /sffg/ thinks of the following popular authors/books to see if it differs from the rest of Veeky Forums:

>Harry Potter
>The Hunger Games
>Stephen King novels
>John Green novels
>Ready Player One
>The Martian

All terrible

>Harry Potter
First couple are okay children's books. Rest are trash.
>The Hunger Games
Never read.
>Stephen King novels
Never read.
>John Green novels
John who?
>Ready Player One
Wretched. Will probably make a fun movie.
>The Martian
Hated the writing style. Movie was fun.

Trash.

Pre-90s King is good.


The rest aren't outright bad, but there's so much better sff out there.

shadow over innsmouth is pretty great if you like lovecraft. theres also a game made from that book that is fantastic.

I don't know that we get too many normie/airport novel readers through here. I'd say we get more /v/ & /a/ crossposters who are looking for a novel-length expansion on a theme that they have enjoyed in gaming, anime or manga.

As for regulars, I don't think you'll see much praise for anything on that list.

>Harry Potter
Never finished the first book. Everything I read that wasn't in the movie seemed to deserve being cut. To be fair, the copy I had was borrowed from school.
>Hunger Games
Pretty clever stuff. Protagonist isn't exactly likable, and 2nd book can feel too similar to first at times. 3rd book is a bit of a mess. Eventually you start to notice that every chapter ends with "and that's when x happened." x being something totally crazy, like an explosion.

I haven't read the rest.

Also, love triangles can go to hell.

what animal would make the best literature if it achieved hyper intelligence comparable to humans?

One with hands.

assume they all have a writing tool perfect for their biology.

Probably an American.

no

what is stupid, stupid question
think of the variation of ideas and ideologies just humans have, surely any intelligent civilization will share that

though having said that, if ants or some hive minds evolved advanced intelligence, or even an r-strategy species did, that could produce some interesting philosphers

Or if a species without sight evolved, they're have no concept or stars and space until they invented radio or some shit

fucking NOBODY is going to read anything that long you optimistic fuck

The Cixin story in there, Taking Care of God, is really crap. Some of his other stories from his collection, The Wandering Earth, are fantastic though.

>what a stupid question
>consider how interesting and nuanced the question is, and how this specific answer is plausible and interesting, such a stupid question!

you've worded a decent question poorly, you just asking about what other animals worldviews would be if they evolved human-level intellect, yes? "The best literature" is bit limiting, what if their deepest art form is song or dance or something? Octopuses talk through their chromatopores ffs. The whole point of zoology scifi is to get creative.

no, I'm essentially asking which is the most creative animal. worldviews does not a good writer make

Oath bringer is the worst book yet, way of kings was a great book and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Oath bringer just cranked up all the annoying parts and anime bullshit up to 11. What the fuck Sanderson

I would like more please

Outer Veeky Forums has plenty, go ask there.

>though having said that, if ants or some hive minds evolved advanced intelligence . . . that could produce some interesting philosphers
I would think they'd suffer colony collapse nearly immediately once they realized the banality of their existence. How much latitude would they have for individuality (and therefore ego) while still remaining functional as a species?

This sounded interesting in my head until I remembered it was the plotline of Hugh the Borg in TNG.

>current read
Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen 1)
>what's it about
I have no fuckin idea
>next read
Deadhouse Gates (MBotF 2)
>total books explored so far
A Game of Thrones (ASOIAF 1)
various textbooks

Reading both ASOIAF and MBotF first books. About halfway through Gardens of the Moon and its better in every way than A Game of Thrones. Will be finishing MBotF before continuing ASOIAF, assuming that the fat man finishes it.

>Harry Potter
Not bad as kids' books/YA, but certainly not something I'd ever want to reread.
>The Hunger Games
Similar to HP.
>Stephen King
Ranges from quite good to absolute trash, completely depends on the book
>John Green
Haven't read, but what I've heard isn't good.
>RPO
Literal garbage.
>The Martian
Haven't read, but the movie was pretty good.

>he reads edgy fantasy
Someday you'll grow out of it user

aSoIaF isn't really edgy, my man. you should refer to something like R Scott Buttfuck for that.

>edgy fantasy
i disagree. if he had posted brent weeks then yes.

The opposite of edgy is dull.

Pithy, but I'd watch my back from now on user.

Rec me a fantasy book and I'll review it.

The War of he Flowers by Tad Williams

>Theo Vilmos is a thirty-year-old lead singer in a marginally successful rock band. Hitting an all-time low, he seeks refuge in an isolated cabin in the woods and reads an odd memoir written by a dead relative who believed he had visited the magical world of Faerie. Before Theo can disregard the account as nonsense, he too is drawn into a place beyond his wildest dreams.
DUDE

OK, stick around /sffg/ and I'll post the review in a couple days when I'm done.

Being dumb does hurt the quality of one's work, yes.

Only commenting on ones I've read

>Harry Potter
Fun when I was a kid, most of them have aged poorly but still readable
>The Hunger Games
Cannot write endings of books to save her life
>Stephen King novels
See above, endings all suck in general.
>John Green novels
lmfao trash

>current read
Last one I finished was Annihilation, one before was Oathbringer (WoK

>Tfw reading dune for the first time

Holy shit im 2/3 of the way through now and I'm loving it. Are the sequels as good as the first? And if not which ones are worth reading?

Please no spoilers. I'm not done the first yet

Messiah is better imo, Children is the worst by far, God Emperor is good but you need to read children for it, Heretics is my favorite but you need God Emperor, Chapterhouse is underrated but properly rated at the same time. Everything Brian Herbert does is well written fanfic.

Any Tournament type books out there? Yes like Hunger Games but ideally more adult. They don't even need to be death games but I'd prefer those.

So I should just read them in order up to heretics? How bad is children? Is it a real painful chore to read or is it just not as good as the rest?

Thanks for the reply by the way

Red Rising.

To put it in perspective, I've read every book besides Children more than once (I just reread Heretics the other day). Children just has long slogs where little happens besides philosophy. If I go into it any more I'll get spoilery.

The issue is you absolutely need the info inside for God Emperor and later books. It's probably still a fine book, the rest are just so good it hurts that it isn't on their level.

I finished Book 2 just now and I'm having the same thoughts.

My plan is to read up to God Emperor and abandon ship there.

I listened to like an hour of the audiobook, obnoxious as fug, sorry

Leaving it open for the power of autism.

I didn't particularly like Messiah. Children and God Emperor started off slow but won me over in the end. I'll eventually finish the series but I'm in no hurry. I miss Stilgar and Thufir Hawat.

Answering a question from the previous thread-
Clean sci-fi: Your bright and clean unarmed world is overwhelmed by invaders and it's up to your wits to save the day first, yourself second, which you can do at the same time.
Dirty sci-fi: While the writer elaborates about WW1 Trench warfare, and everything you know about becomes nuke-craters, the sky fills with the shattered and burning incoming rescue fleet. But it doesn't matter, while you die of your self inflicted burns on top of a heap of stolen life-supporting goods before the chestburster gets you.

That's pretty idiosyncratic. Usually "clean" and "dirty" refer to sexual content, with words like "bright," "grim," "dark" pertaining to theme.

Player of Games

I've been reading sci-fi for decades and I've literally never heard these descriptions before and I strongly suspect you just made them up.

This That dudes a fucken sperg.

>Harry Potter
One of my favorite series. I still love it, though I realize nostalgia plays a big part in that.
>The Hunger Games
Never read it. Watched the first movie and wasn't impressed, didn't ever feel compelled to read the books.
>Stephen King novels
I've only read Misery and the first book of Dark Tower. Dark Tower was interesting, but not enough to make me read the rest of it. Not a big fan of horror.
>John Green novels
Never read a single one, doubt I ever will.
>Ready Player One
The excepts I've read were offensively bad, no reason I would ever read it in full.
>The Martian
Boring.

>current read
Nothing at the moment. I'm waiting for Oathbringer to come out on trade paperback so I can buy it. I want it to match my collection. I finished up the other books I'd been reading and currently have nothing on my plate. I've had the Kharkanas Trilogy on my backlog for a while but I'm enjoying my long break from Malazan titles and know if I get sucked back into that setting I'll be in it for months. Looking for some other epic fantasy to read right now.

>total books explored so far for 2017
explored? What does that mean? I've read about 14 or so books this year I think, but a few of those were re-reads.

>>current read
Baudolino.
>>what's it about
This Italian peasant boy with a gift for learning languages and conning people gets adopted by Barbarossa and goes on a crusade to find Prester John. I know it's REAL LITERATURE and not for the likes of genre plebs such as myself but I'm enjoying it so far, especially the first chapter written in a hodgepodge of languages when the main character is young and barely literate.
>>next read
No way to tell, I don't read deliberately so much anymore and I've always got nine or ten open. Probably finish my LotR reread or go back to those Howard boxing stories.
>>total books explored so far for 2017
I don't even know. 30? 40? I don't finish books very often, especially nonfiction.

this must be some kind of test to make fun of this general

>Harry Potter
children fairytale
>The Hunger Games
?????
>Stephen King novels
somewhat long and hard to enjoy
>John Green novels
?????
>Ready Player One
kind of fun in cringy way
>The Martian
movie was better

So hey /SFFg/ I have a huge favor to ask.
I'm holiday shopping for relatives and my mom is a huge reader.
Mainly sci-fi/fantasy and romance.

I've been looking online for something to get her but I don't want to get her a book(s) and I got her subscriptions to a few of the science fiction journals last year.
I was wondering if you guys knew where I could get some decent stuff based off of books, Like stranger in a strange land, Rendezvous with Rama, Contact, Hyperion etc....

I've been looking all around but unless I want to get my mom a star trek or star wars mug I might be shit out of luck.

I know there's the open source stores like Redbubble and Cafepress but I kinda want to get something more official.

Thanks for your help in advance.

WHEN WILL PEACE TALKS BE RELEASED.
I AM HUNGRY FOR MORE URBAN FANTASY.

Just read Tokyo Ravens.