/sffg/ - Science Fiction & Fantasy General

Then check it out yourself, the only rules are to keep shitposting and book topic posts equal.

>No one wants to use your discord. No one is giving you a power trip when you realize how much power of moderation and censure is at your fingertips.

There aren't any mods, the only thing I did was start up the server and if people want to join, they will, I'm not heavily involved.

Not sure where the hate is coming from tbqh. So far it's just people talking about books, regardless of what kind.

Then don't join? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah, fuck you. We here at /sffg/ pride ourselves on anonymity. It keeps our with sharp and our minds sharper. How dare you try to splinter the community I've been building up for over 3 years. Fuck your discord, and fuck off back to re ddit.

Iron Council, stuff by Joe R. Lansdale

wits*

What would be the better course of action?
>Read The Silmarillion
>Then read The Children of Hurin and Beren and Luthien
or
>Read The Silmarillion
>Replace the Beren and Luthien chapter with the new book
>Replace the Turin Turambar chapter with The Children of Hurin

reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/5xggsm/obscure_yet_amazing_reads/

This guy has some interesting books in that list. Might check out The Rook and Johannes Cabal, anyone read either here?

when the fuck are we getting the new Kingkiller Chronicles? Sad thing is its been years so I have to reread these behemoths to remember anything

Am I growing out of SFF guys? I tried the first dozen pages of like 7, 8 sff books but didn't like any of them. I now picked up Picture of Dorian Gray and am loving it. The dialogue at the beginning between Henry and Basil put me in awe, it's so much higher quality than any of that stuff by Sanderson and friends. I think I would like it better if sff stopped trying to do those multi book series with massive world building and instead focused on smaller scale and refined things such as dialogue.

The prior.

Also the Children of Hurin is okay. You get a lot of extra info, but it was sort of 'modernized' and it reads horribly compared to The Silmariollion imo. Still read it once I guess. Anyway the best version of the story of Turin is in Unfinished Tales imo.

Just read the Silmarillion and when you get to that part read all you want from other 'sources'.

Bait

>what 2017 book are you most excited to read
Skullsworn desu

The Last Dangerous Visions will be out before Doors of Stone at this rate

is Cixin Liu actually good or do people just read him because of their orientalist fantasies about China

I liked Prelude, Forward, Foundation, Foundation and Empire and Second Foundation. Edge and Earth begin dropping the ball but are also entertaining.

Take the plunge into outer lit user. SFFG was a stepping stone for me as well and though I still read from it I'll be damned if any of the books in any of those charts can be as absurdly grandiose as Don Quixote or as /literally-me/ as Dostoevsky

Picture is Fantasy in my opinion.

TUC arc user. Please tell me that the 3 talent literal whore esmee dies horribly pleaseeeee
RRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

People have shilled the rook, I never took the bait.
The necromancer is funny British humor. I enjoyed it.

Try Mr Norrell and Jonathan strange

Embrace the larger world of Veeky Forums my friend, but beware the memes. Also in general everything Veeky Forums recommends is good, but be careful of stuff written after the 1920s. (You can substitute a later decade such as 40s or 50s if you want.) That's not to say it's bad, but it's more risky: Of the old works only the best remain, but newer ones are not all as good.

Mistakes may have been made...

/sffg/ please just tell me a recent fantasy book that's amazing but never spoken about here or on leddit.

I'd also be interested something that draws on asian mythology

Holy kek, an actual IRL copy of The Color Of Her Panties...

Xanth isn't really that bad just because it isn't deep or serious.
Maybe I just really love puns...

>gor
>you will be watered

Was quite pleased with this one

Does anyone know how to write in third person limited

>Gor and Xanth

empyrean taste

I don't know what that is but I like the cover I see. not enough asian fantasy

He has the key to salvation, why won't you realize it user?

I read Poul Anderson's fifty page novelette of time travel, Flight To Forever. After a fairy dry, routine and straightforward third it suddenly becomes a romping Empire Strikes Back/Foundation style space opera (with cat men), a gear change that was unexpected, but which goes a long way to redeeming the overall thing. So I give this three dinosaurs out of five, there is good entertainment here.

>(with cat men)
>cat men
>men
You're killing me user.

>but I like the cover I see
>I ike the cover I see
>I like adare
ADAREEEEEEE
RRRRREEEEEEEE

>unironically using dinosaur as a basis for quality measurement

Late, but:

While gives some incredible responses, if none of them take your fancy maybe try Hyperion if you want some fantastical stuff, or if you really want to pleasure me some of Peter Watt's Rifters stuff, it's full of intriguing dark imagery.

I'd read Gor but the shit is so long I don't know where to start. Has anyone here actually read the series?

Does he have his mother's bones?

Someone post the plant watering excerpt

How's this idea strike people:

NASA discovers a meteorite in ~2020-2030 due to collide with Earth, but not until ~3000. The size and speed of the object make its elimination impossible, so humanity has no option to evacuate Earth.

The actual story takes place around 2400, where a fragmented U.N. masks the collusion of superpower governments to evacuate the Earth but keep their interests at heart. Tons of population control and science and tech innovation's underway to try and shrink the worlds populations, as well as get them off the planet. We're also seeing mass sequencing of every organisms genomes, and a Google-steetview-esc photography of the entire planet done by drones. There's a handful of space elevators, and significant but still growing populations of people living in torus space-stations due to orbit Mars, while they assemble blimps for Venus and the asteroid belt to be Grey-goo'd.

Plot would revolve around an Interpol detective tracking down governments skirting their population reductions, before spiralling into some much greater mystery.

600 years off sounds like a bit much to be panicking already.

Sounds like some shit Three-Body Problem knock-off. Sounds boring to me.

If you're going to do science fiction, you should try to make the science as accurate as possible.
With the meteor ~1000 years away, you could smash into it with a probe to alter its trajectory. Remember, with no resistance in space, the amount of force required to actually move a massive object is very little.

Also this is a very good point:
People never panic until it's the absolute last second.

I just saw "The Cabin in the Woods" and now I'm left wanting a better story with ancient horrors that isn't so camp and silly. I'm not sure what this genre is called but I'm looking for a story where humans encounter beings or a force that they cannot fathom and they're terrorized by the unknown. Basically I'm looking for something that me feel small and insignificant.

How common is it for stories to subvert the trope of "any plan that aims to prevent something from coming into play has a 0% chance of success"? Stuff like heroes never being able to stop the ancient evil from being resurrected, and villains never being able to prevent the heroes from assembling the pieces of the ultimate weapon. I find it weird how often this is played straight, so I'm wondering if it's actually NOT played straight as often as I think.

makes*

>If you're going to do science fiction, you should try to make the science as accurate as possible.

Well, that's the John W Campbell school. It can make for a very boring story because it prioritises pedantic and prosaic nuts and bolts, instead of more interesting aspects of a SF like characters, psychology, and speculating about societies in interesting situations. The key element of science fiction is the 'fiction.' Bring on the time travel and faster-than-light drives.

What separates "science fiction" from "future fantasy"?

A vague whiff of plausibility

Pretty often really, even Sanderson does it.

>Which books set to come out in this year are you most excited for?
The sequel to The Prefect is supposed to release this year. And Stormlight 3 I guess.

Sanderson loves inverting tropes, it's probably his second favourite thing behind creating magic systems

I'll surely report back when I get around to reading them. Unfortunately I'm missing the first couple books (7-23 in pic), so I'll have to acquire those first.

The Xanth and Gor books have been daring me to buy them for almost 2 years. Had the opportunity for a discount on about half of them, so I finally went for it.

Commitment to metaphysical naturalism v. lack thereof.

Titus Groan and Shadow of the Torturer don't do anything particularly exceptional with language, they're just written for an audience that isn't trash. New Sun actually does pull some subtle tricks in how its told which add more depth to the story if you catch them but that's more storytelling than actual language.

Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories might be more what you want. He seems to go out of his way to use the most exotic terms possible to describe absolutely everything. It sounds unpleasant but it actually reads very well. He's got a great feel for words.

>Players of Gor
I've seen that cover image used in /domg/ before. Always wondered where it was from.

Why you ignoring me? ._.

I dug out every book in the card catalog with subject dragon, but my parents vetoed McCaffrey. Didn't read her stuff till much later.

>reading Winter's Heart
>Elayne is like "R-Rand-kun, I-I'm not usually so forward b-but BANG THE SHIT OUTTA ME"
So much for Daughter-Heir, but desu that was kinda satisfying after all those Perrin/Faile chapters.

It's amazing anyone in the Two Rivers manages to breed with how thick the men are. Though I guess the Two Rivers produced Matt who'd have enough sex for 10 men.

It seems like every Malazan book has at least one ancient evil awakening to bring death and destruction to the world, but aside from the first book they are B or C plots usually, they only get a handful of chapters devoted to them and aren't that important. They invariably fail and are usually defeated in anticlimactic ways. It actually becomes pretty funny in the later books.

Reduce time frame by a factor of ~10.

Almost everyone there are betrothed from childhood, I don't think it's that much of a problem.

They would need that kind of custom cause without it nobody would get laid.

Heh

>With the meteor ~1000 years away, you could smash into it with a probe to alter its trajectory.
Heck, you can alter the trajectory of a body in space by putting a small probe into an elliptical orbit around the it.

>implying there's some dichotomy between scientific realism and good storytelling

>Which books set to come out in this year are you most excited for?

The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams, who is seldom mentioned around here but I can see why. I read the original Osten Ard books as a teenager in the early 90s so they will always be special to me.

>reading anything written after 9/11

top plen

they are so slow and predictable, I don't get the hype at all

The Call of Cuckthulhu

I can understand that. But as I said, I read them as a kid in the early 90s, they were my second fantasy books after Lord of the Rings actually so I really enjoyed the slow pace and character development. Also many modern fantasy tropes weren't as commonplace as they are today.

I don't know who you are.

I'm here to discuss literature. I'm not underage, nor a child, so I don't care for the typical shitstirring that accompanies nearly every fucking thread on the site nowadays. Polite sage

But I worship you as for having all things cosmere.

>Tad Williams
Is that the memeory and sorrow Fagget? Get that shit outta here.

Yes and while we're at it, let's call these threads SandersonRothfuss General

At least they are better than meme and sorrow

bretty gud

I am looking for a book, or book series like the Dresden Files or X-Files but in a high-fantasy setting. One or two investigators of some sort trying to solve a/some mysterie(s).
Is there such a thing?

You read the seven forges? I dropped the series after a few books. It became off for some reason. The first book was OK.

GURM lead me to Moore in one of his anthologies. He is GRI APPROVED, the short story at least, can't remember much gri in the main stories, just giant women taking the dick.

High Urban fantasy? Uhhh that's kinda non existent. The whole premise of urban fantasy is a slice of life type setting. Visiting your favourite Chicago wizard to see what shenanigans he got himself into. It's meant to be multiple visits. High Urban fantasy doesn't really work

You can try
City of Stairs
Felix Castor
Joe Pitt Casebooks

>You read the seven forges?
No but I plan on it now after that. I have no idea what Gurm or Gri is.

GURM is George rr Martin. He is a great editor, and puts together some amazing anthologies. You can find new favorite authors by reading his anthologies.... asoiaf a shit though.

Gri is pic related.

I read Asimov's 45 page The Martian Way, a story of Martian scavengers who make a living by reclaiming junk metal in space. Their livelihood is endangered by a fear mongering populist politician on Earth, who wishes to restricts the export of water to off-world colonies in an 'anti waste movement.' After racking heads together for a solution, the scavengers head for the rings of Jupiter.

The contrast of Earth VS Martian colonist behavior, and how this is formed from their differing environments, is the most interesting thing about this story. Colonist frontier ingenuity is contrasted with Earth's complacency and politics of fear. Written in Asimov's usual dialogue drive style, this is a solid tale which deserves three ice mining dinosaurs out of five.

Sounds similar to the Expanse series

Story idea:
Short story written in the style of a 1950s magazine story, the president has gone insane and everybody knows it because his thoughts are appearing on little slabs in their pockets.

I see what you did there...

Save it for /pol/

>fantasy with porno titles

I love it, this should become a regular practice

>black characters
shan't

Those of you who read Malazan, how did you manage to read through Midnight tides? It's fucking slow

It's the Philip K Dick and Ballard timeline.

PKD: Reality is merely perception, a construct that can be shaped by the strong and thrust upon the weaker psyches. If the press, government, or your boss say up is down, facts are lies, then that is the working reality.

Ballard: civilisation is a fragile reality, a thin veneer or stage act covering our latent barbaric tendencies. The internet and social media allows us to eschew the stage act and inhabit a new reality along psychotic lines, closer to our lizard selves.

Story Idea:
Story about a penis inspector bureaucrat in a world that has a clear absolute morality and men of age who act in a way that is morally good get a penis that is the ideal size they've always envisioned and those who act morally bad get a micropenis.
The women side is a mystery for most of the story but the twist near the end is that women get a penis too.

Ending dialogue sample:
Protagonist's love interest: You have a nice penis, protagonist.
Protagonist: Y-you too.

I'd read it.