/sffg/ - Science Fiction & Fantasy General

Deadman's Road by Joe R. Lansdale

>symbolism
This is what stupid people think makes something interesting.

Fantasy today is written equivalent of Hollywood action flicks.

>decided to load up what I've absolutely finished to far and see how many words are there
>23.881
>tfw not even counting all the unfinished / unedited chapters
>tfw not even at the half of the book
>tfw barely finished with introductory shit
I guess it's a good thing that I write so much but as a literal nobody, what would the publishers say if I attempt to publish this shit?
Also how many words is a good number for a typical fantasy book? I always expected it to be some 30k but seeing I'm at 23k and I'm barely some 1/3 done, what should I do?

I'm looking for books that capture atmosphere & tension form first hour of Alien - any suggestions? You know, space exploration, dark but not edgy, slow, realistic. Maybe something like Rendezvous with Rama (like it) and Solaris (love it).

>Also how many words is a good number for a typical fantasy book?

80-90k or so.

are you cheese sandwich user? if not I'd love to have a read ~(no offence cheese user but come on i read yours already)
Blindsight nigga

How is that relevant to what I said? Symbolism is vacuous garbage. People just assign arbitrary meanings to things and then wank about how deep it is that they've constructed this whole tapestry of meaning by claiming one thing "obviously" stands for another. It's the same kind of bunk that got psychoanalysis discredited decades ago.

>fantasy
I retract my offer to read what you've got, no offence but only read lotr so i'd be a poor audience

Nigga 30k isn't even full length for a normal novel and fantasy novels tend to be much, much longer. 40k is the bare minimum to be classified as a novel and not a novella in fiction. Fantasy books tend to be like double that at least. It's not uncommon for them to be over 100k words though. For example, every single book in Malazan Book of the Fallen is at least 120,000 words, and the longest are nearly 400,000. But that's kind of an extreme example of how huge a series can get.

So basically you're fine if you're not even half way done. Your novel will still probably not even be considered long by the standards of the genre.

>every single book in Malazan Book of the Fallen is at least 120,000 words
My mistake I just checked. The minimum word count for the series is actually 200,000 words.

I just bought Children of Hurin and Promise of Blood. Which should I read first?

Finished the first book of Three Body and i'm surprised by how easy it was to get through it, props to the translator. Honestly one of the best modern sci-fi books i've read.

It's because Ken Liu, a great author in his own write, did the translation.

Most tl work is done by people without any real writing experience

Children of Hurin.
There's even a reading of it by Christopher Lee up on youtube if you're one of those audiofags.

>good thing that I write so much
People write 50k in a month for that faggy NaNoWriMo thing.
Get over yourself.

Territory by Emma Bull

Any trannies in this thread?

I read The Last Incantation, a short five page story by Clark Ashton Smith from 1929. It's about an old, powerful and feared magician who sits in a tower above a city, wishing to revive a former lover to rid his feelings of ennui. This is a compact piece about the problem of knowledge and memory. The necromancer's appearance, dwelling and art are depicted in fine and baroque detail.

read the other two nigga shit gets crazy

That cover art confuses the fuck out of me, Isn't the world of Zothique a desert?

If I was into audio books I wouldn't have bought it, but I might give it a listen after I finish the book.

The back of the volume says it's The Spy by Clark Ashton Smith, who did some painting and sculpting. The book has stories from several of his settings including the dying earth of Zothique - Hyperborea, Averoigne. ST Joshi writes that his paintings and sculptures were exhibited several times in the Bay area in the 30s. I think it's an interesting picture, appropriately odd, and I'm interested to see more.

All Penguin classics use paintings for their covers iirc

Except the inexplicable Morrissey autobiography

>Tfw some people think I read about women warriors to be progressive
>tfw it's actually just my fetish

Rec some books lad.

Gandalf the Gray more like Gandalf the Gay

Morrissey's autobiography was pure kino

WOCKA WOCKA WOCKA

I have a few Audible credits and I just finished Echopraxia. I didn't like it as much as I liked Blindsight or the Three Body Problem trilogy, any other good first contact books that actually have interesting characters as opposed to cardboard cutouts that the plot uses. Blindsight at least had a really interesting protagonist, Dark Forest had a pretty anime main character but it was forgivable, Echopraxia's main character was so bad that I didn't care what happened to him.

I finished Wheel of Time a couple weeks back.

I don't know what to do with myself now. Nothing else I've picked up has been able to hold my attention, I feel like I'm always forcing my way through. Any recommendations?

Well, you're obviously a masochist, so Malazan?

Disappointingly true.

Similarly, Neuromancer is the only good book of the Sprawl trilogy.

I haven't tried that series yet, nor anything else by Erikson. Are you suggesting that because he writes similarly to Jordan? Strong world building? Just because it's long?

Stormlight Archives

This. Go buy The Way of Kings ASAP user.

I'll give it a try, but I thought WoT took a turn for the worse when Sanderson took over. It's like that guy has ADD or something.

Yeah I know what you mean, but you've gotta give him some lenience for taking over one of the most complicated (and lengthy) fantasy series in recent history - and being expected to finish it strongly. I think with Stormlight Archives he was able to plan everything from the ground up, so it's much more cohesive.

>Strong world building
>Just because it's long
Ayyyyyyy
Also, I liked it.

I'm done with the expanse series (so far) and it was quite alright, But I don't know what to read next. More sci-fi? Fantasy? I like Wizards, but most books are either not about wizards and just have magic on the side, or are straight up shit.

How have I still not read The Unholy Consult? ARCs on Ebay when?

>Based Mycroft
>Based J.E.E.D. Mason is a fucking alpha
>Bridger is /pure/
>based worldbuilding
>Japanese characters
>References to everything from Roman to Greek mythology to Caesar, to Asimov to the Iliad with /m/echa
>Marquis de Sade subplot
>grey morality fucking everywhere
>that ending
wtf I absolutely fucking love Too Like the Lightning and the sequel now

I'm anticipating that at the end of the series J.E.E.D is going to die for real, Mycroft is going to lose whatever faith he has in humanity left, lose whatever brainwashing he is that prevents him from going on another rape/murder spree become the primary antagonist and then Bridger will bring him back. I really want to see him as a villain, there's so much fucking potential for villain of the year right there holy shit. Prequel when? Sequel when?

ARC leak when?

Less than two months till official release

Might as well wait to official release

Really need to make a "this isn't your blog" macro....

Yes

Fucking amazing books

might cop this tbqh. bit off put by the hamfisted gender politics which i have heard are in it

Well it's on mobilism. In my opinion, it's more reverse SJW than anything but on the other hand I can definitely see where the criticisms are coming from.

>you will never be Colonel Fedmahn Kassad and you will never engage the Shrike in single combat for the future of Humanity

>ywn be Aenea
>ywn post photos with the Shrike on /m/
Fuck my life

Its really fucking good and has the best worldbuilding... ever.

>tfw you pick up a Chinese web novel
>warlock of the magus world
>expect crap
>while derivative it's better than any western fantasy you've ever read

As a side note, does anyone know how to stop sub vocalization?
I tried reading four words in my head on a whim and can't stop doing it, completely ruins immersion.

Palmer said somewhere that the next book is Hobbes-influenced, and we're also going to see more of the world outside the hives.

I remember mentions of the 'Great African', Vatican, and Tibetan Reservations. Were there others? Is there a holdout of Muslims somewhere?

I think that it's only natural that the setting will expand due to the fact that they are moving towards war footing.

the first two books were great honestly

I liked every book in Hyperion and Sol's was the best story.

What I want to know is - is Anonymous in Too Like the Lightning and the sequel a reference to 4chin/imageboards or something?

Bruks was a little dry compared to Siri, but I think Watts was trying to make a more down to earth protagonist. It's another one of the big contextual opposites between BS and EP, along with a few more he hid more well

Kinda agree, have to look far and wide as a fantasy fan for something non-generic. Current fave: amazon.com/dp/B06Y655B9X
Not many stories do a good job of combining the elements of fantasy into a modern setting. Neil Gaiman is pretty good.

Also this: Blood Meridian is fucking amazing. One of the best I've read too.

kicking the shirke at the speed of sound was pure anime though

Kicking the Shrike at the speed of sound made me physically stand up, do a short walk around my room while going "ooooh! OOOOH!", then sit back down and slab my thighs repeatedly with excitement

Yeah but most /sffg/ posters aren't Chimpanzees.

Fuck you nigga. Most of Hyperion was semi-serious, and all that Kant shit kept me grounded and sensible. The sudden introduction of anime into the mix was an unexpected and badass variable.

Hyperion was fun as fuck, I hope that there's an anime made of it.

I need some big, dumb, action movie stuff about humans kicking alien ass. I love schlocky Military Sci Fi. Any recommendations? I've already read Undying Mercenaries and thought it was a great ride.

Halo books?
Starship Troopers?
Warhammer 40k books?

Okay, reddit

Getting hyped feels great.

>Feeling an emotion means you are from reddit.
What?

I heard this shit is a 180 spin of Neuromancer is this true?

Walking around the room cheering like a spastic makes you reddit.

Do.. do you know where you are?

The gender politics aren't too bad and the books themselves are good. Gender shit is just part of the zeitgeist right now, like psi or The Atomic Age used to be. Logical outgrowth of transhumanism imo even if it does get overemphasized.

A lot of the Too Like the Lightning/Seven Surrenders goodread shitters are kekworthy and full of triggered SJWs. This fucking gem especially
>Maybe it's just because I'm a strongly politically biased liberal, but it almost feels like Palmer has recreated the conditions of the 2016 election -- except she's confused the stability Clinton was offering liberals (stability built on being progressive, responsive, and responsible) with the stability Trump offers conservatives (built on fear of economic and demographic uncertainty and nostalgia for a more rigid past). Merely depicting this wouldn't be the same as endorsing it, of course, except I'm finding it hard to shake the feeling that this book actually does endorse the latter. I hope that the next book proves me wrong about this.

Then there's the part where Palmer writes that they deliberately reinstituted a male dominated society and got rid of all the females in the leadership positions because it was better and that moment when a guy punches a female across the room, the only character who claims they are a tranny is a villain and one character only gets called female when they are acting retarded.

>Walking around the room cheering like a spastic makes you reddit
You are completely incorrect. Cheering like a spastic doesn't make you leddit, it's the word choice and exclamation mark positioning of that user's post. Lurk for fifty more fucking years before you make such a retarded statement again.

>people on Veeky Forums would admit to walking around cheering like a spastic

Both things make you reddit.

>In which it is illegal for three or more people to gather for the practice of religion—but ecumenical “sensayers” minister in private, one-on-one.

I don't understand this plot point, this is the literal exact opposite policy countries that try to control religion implement, learning about Singapore should be a requirement for dystopian authors.

Let's talk about books instead of le spooky boogieman
How does /sffg/ decide what to read next?
My current procedure is to paw through an unread stack until I see something that looks like a one-shot. If I'm feeling particularly ambitious, I'll begin a series.

I just waddle through the themes I'd like to see. I can't read pulpy series, they're too over the top for me to care all the way through, so I search for something nice and short like pic related until I get the drive and/or time to get into a more "serious" series.

Any time I hear about something interesting I add it to my Amazon list (torrent queue for poorfags). I also occasionally hit up a local used book store and grab anything that looks interesting.

I have two big biases, towards old books and authors I already know. If I read one interesting book by an author, I'll usually dig into the rest of their catalogue.

I prefer old books because there's more consensus on whether they're any good or at least interesting: I'm familiar with the kind of reading some by people who back through tons of new stuff and I just can't do it. Also, older books tend to be MUCH SHORTER than the walls of text produced by modern authors. If I read something by Silverberg or van Vogt and it sucks, well it was a 150-page standalone and not a 400-page doorstopper that's also probably the start of a trilogy at least.

The sensayers act as a centralised spy network for highlighting suspects

What resources do you use that categorize books by these themes? Do you search the resource every time you need a new book, or do you create a list?
I feel much the same.

I farm books from archives, /m/, Veeky Forums and r/fantasy, printsf and a few other places, shitty ass goodreads if I am fucking desperate and torrent the ones I like the most. Something I've noticed is that most folks here have a higher hit %/higher correlation with my taste than other places. I double check that it isn't shit before downloading. Plot summary and cover is a really bad indicator quality. First page indicates if the author can write better than 3 years. Haven't dropped at > 10% is usually an indicator that it's a keeper. In the old library days I pulled every book sequentially of the shelves and screened based on blurb. If I liked the premise I flipped to the last couple of pages and then the last chapter and decided based on that quality. Nowadays I can download and borrow more books than I can read and it is fantastic.

*
In the old days it cost me almost $60 for one piece of shit fiction.

I should also note that I dislike onshots and feel that a trilogy is ideal. Duology is a bit short, quadrilogy also ideal, 5+ is pushing it if the author is shit.

I want to preface by saying this is in no way the best way to do it and it's very random.

An example would be pic related. I think of the interesting topics that sci-fi expands upon that other genres might not (or at least, not as often). In this case, I wanted to know what was the sci-fi book set in the most ridiculously far future, mainly to see if the authors really cared about how technology advances exponentially (You pretty much need a big war or something horrible to happen to just barely be at "laser guns" level of technology in the year 1 million).

And so I discovered most of these books arrive at this egregious timelines via time dilation and other relativistic effects, which is interesting on itself too. A good consensus of the book is of course welcome (Sometimes from lit, sometimes from goodreads all with a grain of salt. Other topics to explore might be speculative evolution (All Tomorrows), time travel(End of Eternity), galactic expansion (The Foundation), alternate rules of physics, etc.

Can we talk about pic related? I liked this book very much in my teens when I started reading as a hobby. Before you punch me in the face, please consider the only things I had read by then were a bunch of Warhammer 40k fluff books and The Circle by Ted Dekker (kinda random bookshop pick). At the time, it seemed like an "interesting version of Harry Potter", mainly because the author cared about explaining the why, when and how of his magic system, and came up with the relatively realistic exploits of such, like people just making money up, who the fuck will even question it?

As I grow older, I grow more afraid of picking it up again, or even reading the sequels. I heard somewhere that the love interest is resurrected, which pretty much takes a big fat shit on the moral of the first book, which deals with consequences. But I like Grossman's style, being succinct and direct by unapologetically using "shit" and "piss" and "whore" to describe such things with no decor.

I always have 10+ books backed up to read. If I downloaded it, it means I will read it sometime.
How those books are chosen? What ever yall meme here that sounds interesting (after I read the blurb), what is upped on my tracker, what ppl rec me on goodreads(if interesting), what the goodreads' algorithm recs me(if interesting), etc.

Once a book has gri, futuristic technologies, or a good story to tell I would try it.

Tell me... I read tunnel under the world... Tell... Is that book in your pic also about advertising???

It's ok user. I write in my native language so you wouldn't even understand even if you wanted to read it.

When reading a series do you read all the books back to back or do you read books not in the series in between?