/sffg/ - Science Fiction & Fantasy General

I listened to the audio, and goddamn, Wayne June is masterful. I don't think I would've reacted the same way to the story if I'd just read it.

Give in to the Dark Side. Unleash your fury! VENT!

But seriously, I'm just curious what they changed that you didn't like.

Fun, but not destined to become classics

female protagonist

>ywn see the sly look a fish-faced sea demon gives when it wants to breed up some hellspawn with you

>I listened to the audio, and goddamn, Wayne June is masterful. I don't think I would've reacted the same way to the story if I'd just read it.
I had no idea there was an audio book.

>tfw no qt 3.14 ichthyic waifu

In Robert Bevan's series a guy gets stuck as an ugly female dwarf and is ambivalent about it. Does that count?

Still looking for and requesting good Urban Fantasy series. I read all of the Dresdan Files and the Blue Angel Electric Light series (some of those descriptions and in and outs of we's and i's really got my head twisted)

They just need to take a page out of XCOM 2's book and start offering alien waifus.

But I actually did think it was kinda interesting that when Deep Ones knockoffs appear in other works, they sometimes are portrayed as willing to imprison and rape humans in order to reproduce (such as in the atrocious Neonomicon), yet in SoI, that doesn't really appear to be the case. What's more, all the revealed Deep Ones miscegenation is with female Deep Ones.

No. I'm looking for normal dude into character designed for cheesecake.

I mean my friend is looking for that.

>I had no idea there was an audio book.
Really? The monthly reading guy posted it like every time. But here it is
youtube.com/watch?v=aFZrqYn5f_0

>xcom
>alien waifus
obligatory snekguy dump
pastebin.com/dHd9iFCN
crashland and snek 1-4 are great.

To be honest I probably genuinely would fuck a deep one if she gave me a big pile of gold. How bad can it be? Some women already smell like fish.

Do The Abhorsen Trilogy books still hold up? I've been meaning to give Sabriel a try but the covers make it look like shitty YA trash.

Thanks!

lmao they didn't even include the crawler or "where lies the strangling fruit," it's like the scriptwriter just read the back cover

>Sabriel
>Back up, I don't take kindly to darkies.

>Lirael
>Fuck it's cold out, my nips are frozen solid!

>Abhorsen
>I'm so fucking high right now. What was I doing again?

>Across the Wall
>You came to the wrong neighborhood, motherfucker.

Actually I was talking about the fact that one of the non-Deep One "dark secrets" of Innsmouth was that someone once married a Chinese woman.

I beta-read all 11 volumes of Gaskun’s autism space opera. It’s like he took fucking Harry Potter and Star Wars and put them in a fucking blender. Kill me now

>atmosphere in the book
>The shadows of the abyss are like the petals of a monstrous flower that shall blossom within the skull and expand the mind beyond what any man can bear, but whether it decays under the earth or above on green fields, or out to sea or in the very air, all shall come to revelation, and to revel, in the knowledge of the strangling fruit—and the hand of the sinner shall rejoice, for there is no sin in shadow or in light that the seeds of the dead cannot forgive

>atmosphere in the movie
>it's mutating... it's going to consume... everything! and end in annihilation!

SHIT I FORGOT. monthly reading guy will be here any second. somebody stall him while i listen to it quickly.

What's this now?

I forgot how much the MC hated black people ahaha

The first few Iron Druids were good, but it becomes really terrible at some point. Larry Correia's Hard Magic in a way. Perdido Street Station didn't come together for me until the last page, but that was amazing. I swear I read Elliott James' series Pax Arcana, but it made almost no impression. Sandman Slim is mediocre noir. I liked Night Watch and Day Watch, but haven't read the rest of that series. Tad Williams' Bobby Dollar series was underwhelming for him. Maybe not quite urban fantasy but the Magicians series is good, with modern characters and a fantasy mixin.

Then there's the girly stuff.

You can read it much faster. It's pretty short.

The first three were fun overall but Clariel was kinda shite.

Does the hydra count? It's a creature of vile and poison coming from the depths of the world.

Nah, too different.

The vampire story shitposter from the tapir threads. He used to post pics of a stack of manuscripts of a supposed “sci-fi epic.” I asked him for the files.
It’s basic hero journey shit for autistic fourteen year olds.

lmfao
>I asked him for the files.
Jesus why? Was there anything redeemable?

And 11 volumes, really? How long was the whole thing?

>series has some of the fantasy book covers ever made
>replace them with YA symbolmeme

Where I'm from, the Hercules figure funnily cuts a mountain in half with his sword and defeats the hydra, one head at the time. Wherever a head falls vile poisons taint the earth and eventually the monster flees back towards the bowels of the Earth. Its spawn still plague the area(horned adders).

these any good?

I've only read Neil Gaiman so far and

>coraline
Pretty good
>neverwhere
Weak start, picks up, becomes boring real fast
>American Gods
Good ideas not the best execution
>Anansi Boys
The only must -read from Gaiman, it's excellent

I've heard the Craft Sequence is good. And somebody on here was recommending the Kate Daniels series as "Dresden Files but if Dresden wasn't a tool."

That was my biggest complaint about the Dresden Files, he was just everyones bitch/tool

That and the whole thing where Dresden seems to rapidly alternate between either trying to protect random women (leading to them being hurt/killed by his enemies) or trying to push them away so they won't get hurt/killed (spoilers: it happens) and him going "damn I shouldn't have pushed her away."

Also the recent couple of books have felt more like somebody's World of Darkness game than the older ones.

Webnovels are novels too

The world of Craft Sequence is pretty interesting. Three Parts Dead was really good. I never finished Two Serpents Rise though. The main character in that book is an idiot being lead around by some Luddite bitch, and they just make it unbearable to read. I think I'm just going to continue to Full Fathom Five, since AFAIK, the stories are unconnected to each other. IIRC, Three and Two take place on different continents.

Sandman was the best thing Neil Gaiman ever wrote. Maybe Coraline but half credit since it's a novella for children.

Make him a self-insert for the (average member of the) audience like how it's done in japanese manga and anime and you're go.

What's the best alternative world fantasy series out there?

thats like the best kind of brain cancer

How do I learn to like reading again?

I was never this picky as a kid. Even a few years ago I'd read any book I got. Now I can't finish shit

>Blue Angel Electric Light
That the guy where all his magic is city flavored, right? Like he uses a train station turnstyle and the terms and services of a ticket to make an impenetrable barrier? I've read those.

I'm the recommendation guy from last thread.
Sorry you guys don't like Simon R Green. I like him despite his flaws. If you're willing to give him a second chance I say try Ghost of a Chance, it's the first of the Ghostfinders series and newer than Nightside and half the Secret Histories, see if you think his style improves. Joanna doesn't even survive the first book and it's a while before there's any romance again.

Now to more recommendations:
Alex Verus by Benedict Jacka, The MC has the ability to see the future, but it manages not to be broken OP or useless.
The Connor Grey series by Mark Del Franco occurs in an universe where the barrier between our world and the fae breakdown and stars a broken druid/private detective. Good but the ending was rushed.
Glen Cooks Garret PI series is urban fantasy from the other end, a fantasy setting that evolved enough to start looking like a noir detective setting. I like it better than his more famous work, the Black Company.
Monster Hunter by Larry Correia has strong /k/ vibes. It is really good if you can ignore the gun porn, and excellent if you can enjoy it.
The Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch is a pretty good police procedural, with the extra of the cop learning to be a wizard.
Once you're done with Rivers of London, if you want more London police procedural, there's the Shadow Police series by Paul Cornell.
I really like the first Hellequin novel, Crimes Against Maggic, by Steve McHugh, the series after is still good-ish, but I liked the first one better.
The Caulborn series, by Nicholas Olivo stars a demigod with a strong array of powers. In truth the MC was a little bit too much OP, but I liked the side characters enough to keep reading.
Charles Stross Laundry Files is a pretty good mix of eldritch horror and espionage, but the newer books are geting weaker.
The Simon Canderous series by Anton Strout, has a fairly underpowered MC for the genre having only postcognition as his power. Can't say I remember much of the plot, but I remember it was entertaining.
John Dies at the End is really good, really weird and at times actually pretty scary.
Stuff on my to read list, but seem interesting from what I heard: Daniel Faust by Craig Schaefer, Colin MCCool by MD Massey, Nathaniel Cade by Christopher Farnsworth, Luther Cross by Percival Consttantine and Inspector Chen by Liz Willians.
Some already taled about Gaiman, the russian stuff, Sandman Slim and Iron Druid. I think that covers near everything.

Where are my malazbros? Just picked up pic related and so far it's the best of the series imo

Your tastes have probably just refined. Keep looking, I'm sure you'll find something.

this keep looking for books that catch your interest and if it doesnt hold you all the way through, dont waste your time. that doesn't mean stop when it gets boring for a chapter though, stop only if you really arent enjoying it and find yourself counting pages.

Short stories and novellas really helpd me get back in the habbit.

Lukyanenko's Night Watch is pretty fun from what I remember.

Yes you are a newfag because you fucked up the "previous threads" part. Fucking idiot.

Just finished Songs of a Dead Dreamer & Grimscribe. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for weird fiction after reading that, I've already read most Lovecraft and The House on the Borderland. What do people think of Algernon Blackwood?

get the VanderMeer collection of 'The Weird'. It's basically a huge tome of everything from the past century or so. If you loved Ligotti, you'll have a field day with that thing
Blackwood;s best work is honestly ;The Willows' (which HPL called the finest weird tale of his time) 'The Wendigo' is great too.
If want something a little more modern, Laird Barron's stuff might be for you. Start with his first two short story collections then read 'The Croning'

I think Blackwood's real life is more interesting than his fiction too. His time with the Golden Dawn & being a huge outdoorsman/mountaineer gives him more credibility since he actually lived what he wrote about

I haven't read this yet but wanted to put it on your radar. I'll probably read it quite soon and let /sffg/ know what I think. There are other anthologies out there like but I have a personal preference for the NYRB Classics. The stories in this anthology are as follows:

Edgar Allan Poe, "MS. Found in a Bottle"
Bram Stoker, "The Squaw"
Ambrose Bierce, "Moxon's Master"
Ambrose Bierce, "The Damned Thing"
Ambrose Bierce, "An Inhabitant of Carcosa"
R. W. Chambers, "The Repairer of Reputations"
M. P. Shiel, "The House of Sounds"
Arthur Machen, "The White People"
Algernon Blackwood, "The Willows"
Henry James, "The Jolly Corner"
Walter de la Mare, "Seaton's Aunt"
H. P. Lovecraft, "The Colour Out of Space"

Which big bad has had the shittest downfall in your opinion when it comes to science fiction and fantasy?

Truly theirs was a more innocent time.

>MFw Tuor killed millions of Easterlings

SHADOW OVER INNSMOUTH!

Optional questions:
>How would you rate this story compared to other Lovecraft stories?
>What kind of blasphemous crap do you think the fish people hauling to Innsmouth?
>Did the fish people actually do anything wrong?
>swastikas lmao

Also, RESPOND TO THIS POST WITH NOMINATIONS FOR WHAT WE'LL READ NEXT. Preferably the story should be about 100-200 pages long, but I'll accept longer/shorter works and let voters decide. Voting will commence during next thread. 'I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream' is automatically nominated because it came second last time. 'Lord of Light' and 'A Night in the Lonesome October' by Roger Zelazny are banned this round because they lost horribly last round, F.

I hope I did not forget anything important.

I stalled myself. By sleeping.

Any good omnibus of Lovecraft's works I can get that aren't those tacky Barnes and Nobles hardcover? I mean it's not a bad price £10 for the lot but I'd really just wait for something else.

>Which big bad has had the shittest downfall in your opinion when it comes to science fiction and fantasy?
Walter O'Dim in Dark Tower, no question.

>How would you rate this story compared to other Lovecraft stories?
One of his best if not the very best.

>What kind of blasphemous crap do you think the fish people hauling to Innsmouth?
Shoggoth polyps?

>Did the fish people actually do anything wrong?
Worshiping Cthulhu seems stupid to me. I doubt it cares about them much more than it cares about humanity. They're not its kind.

I personally have the Necronomicon hardcover by B&N and I'd honestly recommend it. I'm no expert but the quality of both paper, binding and cover seem great to me, they don't seem to have edited the texts and the illustrations are beautiful. My only complaints are a couple of minor spelling errors and that they only commissioned like 10 illustrations for specific stories and then placed them at random to accompany the remaining ones.

>one of his best
I agree. One thing that really set this one apart from many of his other stories was the long action sequence during our hero's escape. I feel that Lovecraft seldom write such hands on sequences with many active agents. I also read on some Wiki that Lovecraft was self conscious about that sequence and felt he could not write good action, something I have to disagree with.

>Worshiping Cthulu
But don't they get like magic gold and eternal life from their hellish rituals? Seems like a neat bargain considering the chances of Cthulu ever returning seems minuscule. I'd fuck a fish waifu and return to the sea no doubt.

If you live long enough, you'll see Cthulhu reawaken. Suppose it might be worth it for all the fish on the way, if you're into that.

>I feel that Lovecraft seldom write such hands on sequences with many active agents. I also read on some Wiki that Lovecraft was self conscious about that sequence and felt he could not write good action, something I have to disagree with.
That was actually one of the more suspenseful things I've read in any work. Maybe it was that hyper self critical outlook that made it so good?

>I'd fuck a fish waifu and return to the sea no doubt.

>I-it's not like I like you, surface dweller. It's just for Father Dagon. S-stupid.

I just saw this edition which actually looks pretty ideal.

amazon.co.uk/Complete-Fiction-H-P-Lovecraft/dp/0785834206/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519389502&sr=8-1&keywords=HP Lovecraft complete works

I was pretty pissed about Flagg dying so effortlessly.I really wanted one last good showdown between him and Roland before he eventually reached the tower.

So I just started reading Unfinished Tales and I really haven't read any Tolkien an about a decade. I'm guessing Grey Havens have some connection to Ulmo and they are some underwater paradise or something?

You can always just kill yourself once you notice old squidhead coming around. But, going by my own reasoning, I guess I'd be one of those idiots either shot by the government, consumed by some random horror or kidnapped to Pluto for unknown reasons if I were actually a character in a Lovecraft story.

>Maybe it was that hyper self critical outlook that made it so good?
That's probably part of it. I also think the action help you to imagine the horror of the situation more than the usual ending where the main character ensuring you that it was totally ghoulish and that he'd probably go insane if he wrote it down.

enough

This thread need more Dick, I nominate Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said.

you want dick
you love dick
you need dick

yes

It's one of my personal favorites, along with Color Out of Space. I think the atmosphere building is top notch, but like a lot of readers (I assume) I find Zadok's exposition dump monologue to be challenging to get through. I agree with the other posters in that the chase sequence is excellent... H.P. should have taken cues from Howard on how to write action.

If we want to continue with Weird Tales and other foundational stuff, I nominate C.A.S.'s "City of the Singing Flame."

>tfw you will never watch Gundam Zeta with Palmer Eldritch while on his ship being beamspammed

I thought SoI was great, and listening the the audio by Wayne June made it even better. Despite the final twist ultimately resulting from miscegenation, it's still aged very well, due to the obvious mental change that occurs to the protagonist. The line
>No, I shall not shoot myself—I cannot be made to shoot myself!
is one I especially enjoyed. This finalizes the narrator's change mentally, and leads into his plot to flee from the world of humans and fully embrace the world of the Deep Ones.

I usually don't like purple prose, but I actually liked it here. I'm not entirely sure why. I think because it makes the story sound more fantastic and heightens the effect of the mood. I remember my father saying the same thing about Tolkien's works when he was reading them in German for the first time (after having read them in English seven times previously).

Unfortunately the story infodumps. I found the conversation with Zadok far most tolerable though. He conveys information not just with words but also actions. Lowering his voice in fear, glancing to the tides, disappearing at the end. I think his sudden disappearance was needed in order to make the audience feel there's some actual threat to the narrator's livelihood.

>How would you rate this story compared to other Lovecraft stories?
Never read any, so I can't say.

>What kind of blasphemous crap do you think the fish people hauling to Innsmouth?
Ah, the strange gold?

>Did the fish people actually do anything wrong?
I have no idea why the Deep Ones even want to interbreed with humanity. Honestly, I think I can see why later authors would say the Deep Ones kidnapped humans for reproductive purposes.

Supposedly the Deep Ones live underwater in some fantastic city, but for some reason they just leave Innsmouth to decay into a rotting shithole. It's like they couldn't care less about the world of humans, which seems strange for a race that wants to breed with them.

The destruction of Innsmouth should've made them think about their next move more carefully. If they got busted once, it can surely happen again. Maybe cooperate with humanity a bit more instead of being elitist snobs. (Also waifus.)

Oh yeah, nominations. I can't even think of anything to nominate, so I guess I'll just nominate I Have No Mouth.

And, no offense, but why do you guys use page count instead of word count?

Its funny, when I was reading it last year /sffg/ was talking about the series constantly.
Now it rarely comes up.

Great series, though. Just understand that its all you're going to be reading for about six months.

>I guess I'll just nominate I Have No Mouth
>nominating a book that's already nominated

>but why do you guys use page count instead of word count?
No offense taken, it's a somewhat retarded practice. It's because I'm lazy, when I look up a story on Goodreads the first thing I see is a page count but finding out the number of words is way harder.

Nearing the end of the first story with Tuor in Unfinished Tales. Did Tolkien ever do anymore with his sea mythology? I find Ulmo pretty fascinating.

How are the Strugatsky bros books? I've got Roadside Picnic but how are the rest?

I really like Picnic but find Hard to Be a God quite dull, even through the themes are just right for a fedora tipper like me. Going to read The Doomed City sometime this year.

Only read Hard to be a God but it's fascinating but does get a little repetitive with LOOK HOW BRUTAL STALINISM WAS themes drilled into you. How are the other books in Roadside Picnic? I've only seen the movie Stalker but I'll probably buy the collection soon.

>the other books in Roadside Picnic
Roadside Picnic is a single story user. What collection are you talking about?

I thought Roadside Picnic had more than one story in it? My mistake then. For some reason I thought it was a small collection of short stories. I might be confusing it with another Strutgatsky book.

No, not really. There's a couple of different POVs and some timeskips but they're not different stories.

Has anyone read Eden, by Lem?

I really enjoyed it but I think I have to read it again to get a better understanding of the various attributes of the alien society. I get that it's an allegory for a failed state but some of the descriptions are so bizarre that I couldn't quite get the symbolism.

>I have no idea why the Deep Ones even want to interbreed with humanity.
Hmm, here are are some thoughts:
Did it ever say that pure Deep Ones were immortal, or just that Human/Deep One mixed bloods were? Maybe when the human genes get thin they need to introduce more into their society. Do successive generations get fishier and fishier without humans?
Perhaps immortality leaves males infertile. Maybe both sexes are infertile after a certain point, but they store large egg caches against need and can place them back in the womb or use some hellish fish ritual to fertilize them.
Maybe immortality gets boring and they want to get to know new faces or genitalia.
Is the entire thing a dark ritual handed down from Dagon?
Is it a long term plot to eradicate humanity by effectively stealing their offspring?
Are male Deep Ones ritualistically castrated as part of their coming of age rite?

Are the fishies just really horny?

>Are the fishies just really horny?
Maybe.

"We must secure the existence of our people and a future for Dagonian children."

Why do I feel like Bitterblooms is one of the most underrated works by George RR Martin? I genuinely enjoyed it mostly because of the backdrop.