/sffg/ - Science Fiction and Sanderson General

Ill check those, thank you anons

Bought Moorcock's The Prince in Scarlet Robe trilogy a while ago, good entry into his novels or should I start somewhere else?

The kindle version was coming out 27th, last time I checked.

What the hell?

Ettmetal? That trell metal?
How the fuck did nobody know about Ettmetal? What's that lithium? This is just weird he keeps making up new metals and isn't it fucking up the muh 16 golden rule

This is often compared to PKD's books which is why I read it this weekend. A man is troubled by his dreams, which have the power to change the world retroactively; he goes to an oneirologist who begins to manipulate things in his favour, and build a utopia.

Le Guin's prose is less clunky and more poetic than most SF writers, as well as philosophical, with references to Heraclitus and Taoism here and there. She has a good eye for extended metaphors: the wave-flung jellyfish, the wholeness and non-committal block of uncarved wood, the creek whose waters resound like the cries of many children. There are a number of passages which are worth rereading and thinking about.

I was left with the overall impression that I enjoyed thinking about the book more than actually reading it. This is more of a fable than a thriller.

What I want to know is, how does Lathe Of Heaven compare to her other books?

If you enjoyed the military aspects of Ender's Game, then try Tau Zero it's got the same shit

See my chart, we're read some similar stuff

Reynolds is usually pretty decent but the dude can't write people to save his life. Shame, because the science bits are pretty good.

Off the top of my head, for ground-combat focused stuff:

The Old Man's War series by John Scalzi.

Blackcollars by Timothy Zahn is a short series about a team of enhanced human ninjas vs aliens that conquered humanity in a war. It's pretty good, though kinda corny.

A few of the Hammer's Slammers stories have the Slammers squaring off against alien forces. (It's really good military scifi and worth reading anyways)

The Lazarus War series by Jamie Sawyer is about human soldiers using remote controlled clone bodies in a war against a creepy alien race that uses biotech. It's got a bit of a Aliens vibe to it.

The IX by Andrew Weston is about groups of humans (Lost Roman legion, Indians and American cavalry, SAS commandos and some terrorists) getting abducted by a dying alien race to fight demons.

Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff is a pretty good Marines vs aliens story.

Those aren't themes

Just got pic related

What am I in for Veeky Forums?

>Dune - liked it, about to finish 2nd one now though its kind of weak and i doubt if i'll continue.
>its kind of weak
Shit taste confirmed.

Cool pulp. Nothing more, nothing less. Also, niggers.

Fun. Ignore the movie depictions, Conan as a character has a lot of depth and gets quite philosophical.

SJWs would complain about the 'damsel in distress' or racism against 'evil black people', but if you ignore any far-fetched interpretations like that you're in for a hell of a ride.

Not liking Dune is in itself very understandable, but the shit taste comes from loving Neuromancer while calling Snow Crash edgy, when in fact both are equally shitty for exactly the same reasons,

perhaps. but still its just people standing and talking and plotting. what did you like about it?

Shadow of the Torturer has some nice prose but Severian and the plot itself is pretty bland so far.

That's usually what most literature is about, people standing and talking.

It's not gonna get any better.

the main guy is a pizza delivery hacker who wields a katana... can it get any edgier than that? perhaps though if he wore some makeup on top of that...

Sev is one of the most exquisite characters in all fantastical lit. There's more to him than to any other character I can think of if we keep it only to sff. The reason he appears bland is because it is a memoir. Have you ever read a memoir? Because they are like that. Ernest Junger is a very interesting person, but you need to pay attention to certain things to get to it due to the form, it's like that with Sev, but probably more pronounced since his detachment is a part of his character.

Well Neuromancer is basically like that, but without the comedic undertone SC can have as an excuse.
That's true, it's brilliant since the start.

>doesn't like people talking and plotting
That is literally a fundamental aspect of the Dune series as a whole you nigger.
Dune Messiah just has the best balance out of all the books. The other factions are strong and intelligent (if you didn't love Scytale you are most likely literally a plebeian), we are shown the downsides of Prophecy and the ending is possibly the most tense ending out of all 6 books.

I want a fantasy novel or series that (1) doesn't have a main antagonist, (2) has a sense of adventure, and (3) is not too serious/is funny but not in a Terry Pratchett reddit-tier kind of way.. Rec me something?

Is suffering necessary to write good literature?

>John Scalzi

no numales allowed

To elaborate on (2), by "sense of adventure" I especially mean a picaresque feel

You know putting things in spoilers is useless when you don't indicate what you're spoiling, right?

Are you man enough to reveal the spoilers?

"The Eyes of the Overworld" and "Cugel's Saga" by Jack Vance. Technically there is a main antagonist but it's merely a device to have the plot run full circle--he is only encountered at the beginning and end of the novels.

Dunno. Why are you asking about literature in the genre fiction contaimnent thread?

Apparently those are issues 2 and 3 of a tetralogy. Shouldn't I read the first?

They aren't. They are separate novels. Vance's Dying Earth stories have been packaged up over the years into numerous editions and so the Cugel books get lumped in with those because hey, Dying Earth setting.

The other Dying Earth stories are okay if you already like Vance but the Cugel books are in another class and category and suit your request nearly to a T. If you have an omnibus version, then read those two parts of it and see what you think.

>not too serious/is funny but not in a Terry Pratchett reddit-tier kind of way

>Rec me something?
suicide

comment on picrelated

>or racism against 'evil black people'

Oh please. Unlike Lovecraft, Howard just shoves the racism in, instead of creating a narrative about the creeping terror of Irish immigration.

What does a fantasy short story even look like? Link me some good ones pls.

Boring and ends too fast, don't bother

>be behind in my gen ed SFF-focused lit class
>trying to finish previous book out of pride even though I'm over a week late, probably gonna have to skip the next one and wing it
>it's fucking Parable of the Sower
>everything went better than expected

Vox Day pls.

Try pic related

Pure bliss and enjoyment.

I got published in the first issue of the Bard (I wrote the story, "The Mansion") and I just submitted a story for Issue #001.

Highly recommended, the magazine is great and I got $12 for the story which is at least something.

Check out the first Witcher book. It's a collection of short stories about:
The story with the Striga from the opening movie in the first game.
Geralt gets in a fight with some elves who mock Dandelion's musical abilities.
Geralt getting drunk with guy who got turned into a monster.
Dandelion getting attacked by a djinn.

Revelation Space
Xeelee Sequence
The Last Legends of Earth

>mom I'm fucking crazy

Is there a recommended reading order to the Xeelee sequence? If so, what is it? If not, what's the strongest one and I'll start with that

Also:
>a inn explodes around Geralt and Yennifer, then they have sex in the ruins

>imma post straight edge barney again
The absolute madman

Been listening to the Mither Mage trilogy and have four hours left on the last book and I can't believe how much talking and not-fighting is taking place. Such a disappointment.

Theres a guide on stephenbaxter.com I think. Vacuum Diagrams is a pretty good general introduction.

To add to this, Kelsier wasn't a feruchemist so wtf happened at the end of bands of mourning?

Is there anyone in this series who doesn't get cucked ?

Sandkings - GRRM
Come, Lady Death - Peter S. Beagle
We Can Get Them For You Wholesale - Gaiman

I did. It was decent, not great. It kind of reminded me of an overly sincere Starship Troopers. Sequels are awful, though.

We all suffer to some extent. It's as necessary to good writing as being alive. If you're asking if there's some suffering quotient which will improve your writing then the answer is no. Your pain is valid, no matter how minute. Use it.

Scott, pls go.

>They pay you (so they own it, and have the rights to your stories), if one is a hit, they sell it to the Hollywood writers guild for a couple hundred thousand dollars, you, the person who wrote the story, gets like a buck fifty.

As stipulated on the website, in the paragraph of legalese authors include with their manuscript, and on the inside cover of the magazine, the only thing we're buying is exclusive publication rights for twelve months. All story rights reside, either immediately or eventually, with the author.

>rejected
Even if you're rejected you get constructive criticism from two to three slush readers, and maybe even the editor as well. You have nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

you have to sacrifice something of yourself in order to create something special. this sacrifice inevitably causes suffering.

You could try the Delta Green series. They're not great books, I don't think anyone would accuse the writer of being a literary genius, but they're earnest and fun. They follow the operations of a fictional organization known as 'Delta Green', which conducts clandestine operations against otherworldly forces. It's kind of like the X-files, but replace the FBI with a shadowy paramilitary group, and Mulder and Scully with mooks who often die like bitches.

Personally, I read Vacuum Diagrams -> Timelike Infinity -> Ring. I didn't bother with Raft or Flux as I didn't care about their respective stories but you're more than welcome to read them if you're into them.

No seriously, i thought that sorweel might be cool, but then he is cought masturbating to his godlike gf getting pounded by her brother.
This is some advanced cucking

Nope, that's just magical thinking.

Could you respond to

Alright Desmond

Where's the TBG guy when you need him?

What do you want to know exactly? Phrase your questions more specifically?

Scratch that second question mark. Should have been a period. Oh well.

This book is just Jemisin's "The Broken Kingdoms" with less sex and cannibalism.

in b4

>reading YA
>reading "totally radical dude!" Riordan in particular
>reading Jemisin

Oh great, people talking about Dune. I recently finished Children of Dune, and....
SOME SPOILERS SOME SPOILERS
SOME SPOILERS SOME SPOILERS
What's so good about the 2nd one? It was nice, but I didn't get all of it. Scytale, Bijaz, re-introducing Idaho was all very enjoyable, but I don't really get everything Frankie's preaching at with some of the epigraphs,expository dialogue and character thought. Some of it goes over my head and demands being re-read with me wondering if it's all just superfluous bogus. And if it is, is it intentional? Does Frank sometimes intend to bewilder you just to demonstrate how far removed from our own lives these people are? Am I missing some important subtext or cryptic meaning that actually answers why the jihad had to happen, why Paul first resented the idea, then came to accept it because it prevented a much worse course for human society and would lead to a better one? Or did his prescience make him understand fully that there was no way back, he had fulfilled the prophecy and would never be able to undeify himself in beholding of the Fremen, so he exercised basic damage control while trying to use prescience to somehow alter it?

Then there was Children of Dune. The hell was up with that "vision battle" with The Preacher? What allowed lil L to start the metamorphosis? Why was it so hard to not end up possessed?

And a whole bunch of other convoluted stuff. How do you guys tie it all together? It gets quite messy in CoD. Still, I liked it. It was absolutely enthralling, in fact. Will read the rest of the books, too. Despite the stimulating, yet brittle, sometimes silly prose. Despite the engrossing, yet strangely, sometimes poorly formulated plot.

World building is sparse. Character development? I'll be honest. How to even judge them? I can't relate to any of them, or even fully understand them, the way they're presented. To me, this isn't a bad thing. It's what I love about these books.

So yeah, I dunno. The books are weird and of dubious literary merit by traditional standards(that doesn't matter, btw). But oh boy, they're evocative, grand, inspiring, insightful, creative and original, if not in all ways. Talk about Dune, faggots.

You realize Veeky Forums has spoiler tags?

Any good alt-history books?

Lesbian afrikaner Nietzsches need not apply

I'm looking for some recommendations now. I've read:

- Gentleman Bastards (loved them)
- Kingkiller Chronicle (it was good)
- Stormlight Archive (fucking amazing)
- Mistborn (okay)
- Riyria (excellent)

Where can I go from here?

The Buried Giant

The Iron Dream
Bring the Jubilee
Wouldn't actualy recommend Man in the High Castle, I found it pretty bland

Why do you keep doing this? It's a solid book, but spamming it for every question is just going to turn people off...

The ending of the book spoke to coppermind made by Kelsier, but he wasn't a feruchemist, so what happened there?

Just finished Asimov's Nightfall.
How did something so bad get so much praise?

Probably to deter all the "What should I read next?" questions. And it's not going to work.

You missed .
Such negligence will not be tolerated.

The answer is it's not that bad and not that praised.

(You)

This is the first time it was mentioned in the thread, and it is a fitting answer to the questions.
Point 3 disqualifies it, I'd say.