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Carrier posted:I really enjoyed City of Stairs but bounced off the second one pretty hard, the changing of the main PoV really killed my interest which I know is something I really should have just given it more of a chance over but eh. The second and third book aren't quite as compelling but the third one really leans in to the "Sigrud murders poo poo" concept 
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Feb 18, 2020 07:03
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I liked City of Stairs and the sequels a lot. Anybody got words on the Darwath series by Barbara Hambly? I've been thinking of reading something fantasy lately and I saved it on my local library account's list feature a while back.
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Feb 18, 2020 10:00
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scary ghost dog posted:has anyone read the witcher books....i just finished them and i thjnk the last one is the best fantasy book ive ever read. Hey guys, has anybody read any of the Elder Scrolls books? Or Warhammer 40k tie-ins?  Kesper North posted:Seconding Craig Schaefer urban fantasy rec. He keeps getting both more ambitious and more character-driven with his stories as he gains experience, and the narratives between his series interweave really well without requiring you to read every book. (Which I have, because they're good.) Definitely Hollywood movies in book form, but quirky and introspective ones with great throughlines. Craig Schaefer is a loving machine and I worry he's going to commit suicide or something before he finishes his multiple awesome series.
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Feb 18, 2020 12:01
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Hey guys, has anybody read any of the Elder Scrolls books? Or Warhammer 40k tie-ins?
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Feb 18, 2020 12:18
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No.
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Feb 18, 2020 12:18
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Hey guys, has anybody read any of the Elder Scrolls books? Or Warhammer 40k tie-ins? Ironic or sincere posting or not, that person was enjoying Witcher and you're here mocking them. Why. Why would you do that. Let people enjoy books.
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Feb 18, 2020 12:55
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Hey guys, has anybody read any of the Elder Scrolls books? Or Warhammer 40k tie-ins? You must have read them, what do you think of the Witcher books?
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Feb 18, 2020 12:59
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scary ghost dog posted:has anyone read the witcher books....i just finished them and i thjnk the last one is the best fantasy book ive ever read. I just read through them. They're not bad at all. Their main strength is probably that they're drawing so heavily on slavic folklore rather than western european folklore. biracial bear for uncut posted:Hey guys, has anybody read any of the Elder Scrolls books? Or Warhammer 40k tie-ins? You're being mega-dumb here. The witcher novels were written before, and independently of, the video game. The game is the spinoff, not the novels. I'm getting really sick of this reflexive poo poo on everything pose people are taking, especially when it's done in ignorance. Hieronymous Alloy fucked around with this message at 13:04 on Feb 18, 2020 |
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Feb 18, 2020 13:02
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StrixNebulosa posted:Ironic or sincere posting or not, that person was enjoying Witcher and you're here mocking them. Why. Why would you do that. Let people enjoy books. Agreed. Beyond all, the Witcher books are unnderated gems even in their own time, never mind today when the content stands out from rest that you'll find in contemporary fantasy literature that resembles it. The aspect that's most impressive hasn't changed either, but you'll find even more on a second readthrough in addition to that, if the 4.2 goodreads rating doesn't speak for itself.
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Feb 18, 2020 13:09
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sebmojo posted:You must have read them, what do you think of the Witcher books? I think they're at about the same level as some of the Warham books. Okay, but I wouldn't call them "best thing I've ever read". Hieronymous Alloy posted:You're being mega-dumb here. The witcher novels were written before, and independently of, the video game. The game is the spinoff, not the novels. I'm well aware that the Witcher books pre-date the video games (by a fairly wide margin of years). But there were a lot of things written in the 1980s for random sci-fi magazines (like the Witcher short stories and novels) that later became video games. Doesn't mean they are all that great. Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 13:51 on Feb 18, 2020 |
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Feb 18, 2020 13:16
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Well, since the thread's talking UF and this thread seems to be a lot more active than the actual UF thread, crossposting my latest read from the library. The Golden City by J. Kathleen Cheney is in theory a very unusual urban fantasy novel: there's not a werewolf or vampire to be seen, the wizard cops are secondary characters, and the whole thing is set in an alternate 1902 Portugal. Unfortunately, once you get past the surface novelty of the setting, The Golden City is a by-the-numbers urban fantasy story filled with stock urban fantasy characters. Cheney suffers from all the usual problems of the genre: regularly breaking the flow of the story to infodump about her setting, supernaturally sexy paranormal races with highly problematic gender and sexual politics (but not to worry, our heroine is not only chaste but implied to be a virgin, not like all the other sirens!), and a depiction of LGBT characters and same-sex attraction that could charitably be described as unfortunate. Not the worst example of the genre I've ever read, and this is apparently Cheney's first full-length novel, so hopefully she'll get better, but unless the alternate 1902 Portugal setting and its love of nobility/commoners intrigue mixed with the urban fantasy elements really intrigues you, I'd give it a pass.
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Feb 18, 2020 13:20
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I thought the novels based in Peter Jackson's Middle Earth universe were pretty good.
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Feb 18, 2020 14:13
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biracial bear for uncut + A human heart: All you two seem to do is edgelord-troll and crap on stuff. Please knock it off while posting in here, or just don't post in here anymore: whichever one is easier. Urban Fantasy chat: Tend to dip into and out of this genre. Prefer reading oddball one-off attempts in UF to reading UF series. By the 3rd book or story of a UF series, I'm clued into the authors plot structure gimmicks and their spins on https://youtu.be/lvFBeFBiB0M (For those who don't follow links or are webcrawler tools: It's a youtube clip of "Danger 5's Hitler jumping through a glass window at the end of every episode of Danger 5") to keep their UF series going. Aaronvitch's Rivers of London has a weird off-putting Sax Rohmer "writing about race" vibe for me. This was the X factor I couldn't really figure out back when I mentioned that I'd read the 1st 4 Rivers of London books a few pages ago. Read a few more of Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus books via library copies (skipped a few books, not available) up to Burned. Burned had a downer of a premise and ending, but not really unexpected. A throwaway character in book one(Fated) even predicted it (Helikaon). Probably my favorite urban fantasy book is M. John Harrison's The Committed Men, which technically isn't really urban fantasy (unless "magic = climate change") but oh well.
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Feb 18, 2020 15:41
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quantumfoam posted:biracial bear for uncut + A human heart: All you two seem to do is edgelord-troll and crap on stuff. Please knock it off while posting in here, or just don't post in here anymore: whichever one is easier. making GBS threads on the Dresden files and weirdly over-enthusiastic endorsements of derivative fantasy books isn't all I do in this thread (see my earlier posts about books by Becky Chambers and the conversation about the weird-as-gently caress John Varley sci-fi books). You really aren't going to like the next few books in the Verus series if you think Burned was a downer. I mean, Versus beats the poo poo out of Anne at one point. Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Feb 18, 2020 |
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Feb 18, 2020 15:44
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Hey guys, has anybody read any of the Elder Scrolls books? Or Warhammer 40k tie-ins? I prefer Forgotten Realms novels.
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Feb 18, 2020 16:08
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PeterWeller posted:I prefer Forgotten Realms novels. At least you aren't going on about the Star Wars/Aliens/Predator extended universes. 
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Feb 18, 2020 16:23
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biracial bear for uncut posted:making GBS threads on the Dresden files and weirdly over-enthusiastic endorsements of derivative fantasy books isn't all I do in this thread (see my earlier posts about books by Becky Chambers and the conversation about the weird-as-gently caress John Varley sci-fi books). please explain what the witcher books are derivative of
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Feb 18, 2020 16:31
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scary ghost dog posted:please explain what the witcher books are derivative of Literally every sword-and-magic book ever written that incorporates contemporary mythology from any given part of the world (as opposed to whole-cloth inventions)? They were a staple of "pulp fantasy/fiction" writing throughout the 1900s (usually in the mass market paperback form). Here's a short list: The Book of Kane (and the sequels) by Karl Edward Wagner (probably the closest comparative series in this list) The Broken Sword by Poul Anderson (Generic Norse Mythology rather than Polish); also Three Hearts and Three Lions by the same author The Mists of Avalon by Marion Bradley Zimmer (fairly obvious Arthurian tale, but still, swords and magic) The Dying Earth series by Jack Vance. Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber I mean the listing can literally go on forever, how much time you got? Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 16:53 on Feb 18, 2020 |
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Feb 18, 2020 16:40
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Ah, so you didn't actually read them. Got it.
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Feb 18, 2020 16:44
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Let people enjoy things
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Feb 18, 2020 16:45
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Proteus Jones posted:Ah, so you didn't actually read them. Got it. Check my edit in my previous post. Also Robert Howard's Conan and Solomon Kane. Some Pinko Commie fucked around with this message at 16:59 on Feb 18, 2020 |
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Feb 18, 2020 16:53
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For UF, I'll toss in my characteristic recommendation of Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift books. It's a good 4 book series. The associated Magicals Anonymous is not as good, but still pretty solid and fun.
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Feb 18, 2020 17:08
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Ben Nevis posted:For UF, I'll toss in my characteristic recommendation of Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift books. It's a good 4 book series. The associated Magicals Anonymous is not as good, but still pretty solid and fun. Griffin is a pen name for Catherine Webb, who also writes as Claire North. As North, her First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is excellent.
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Feb 18, 2020 17:13
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Kalman posted:Griffin is a pen name for Catherine Webb, who also writes as Claire North. As North, her First Fifteen Lives of Harry August is excellent. I didn't realize they were all the same person but Matthew Swift stuff was pretty good and so was Harry August and so is the XMen ripoff of Harry August
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Feb 18, 2020 17:36
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Proteus Jones posted:Ah, so you didn't actually read them. Got it. I look forward to hearing all the ways Sapkowski isn't writing in the long and grand tradition of pulp sword & sorcery fiction. Nevvy Z posted:I didn't realize they were all the same person but Matthew Swift stuff was pretty good and so was Harry August and so is the XMen ripoff of Harry August More correctly, Harry August and HoX/PoX are ripping off Kate Atkinson's Life after Life, which is also quite excellent. PeterWeller fucked around with this message at 17:40 on Feb 18, 2020 |
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Feb 18, 2020 17:38
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quantumfoam posted:Probably my favorite urban fantasy book is M. John Harrison's The Committed Men, which technically isn't really urban fantasy (unless "magic = climate change") but oh well. Anyhow, concerning the UF debate: I really enjoyed the Delphic Division novellas by Paul Crilley, but the series seems to be dead after book 2; still, they're really good takes on the original UF "hard-boiled detective (optional funny sidekick) + magic" formula. Also, no romance, which is a plus as far as I'm concerned. Speaking of shorter UF, I also like Cassandra Khaw's stuff, especially Hammers on Bone - definitely worth reading if you don't mind a bit of horror tossed in. PeterWeller posted:I look forward to hearing all the ways Sapkowski isn't writing in the long and grand tradition of pulp sword & sorcery fiction. anilEhilated fucked around with this message at 17:43 on Feb 18, 2020 |
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Feb 18, 2020 17:38
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need someone to explain to me how “having medieval swords & sorcery” makes something derivative.
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Feb 18, 2020 17:49
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biracial bear for uncut posted:making GBS threads on [...] weirdly over-enthusiastic endorsements of derivative fantasy books isn't all I do in this thread (see my earlier posts about books by Becky Chambers and the conversation about the weird-as-gently caress John Varley sci-fi books). Okay, but look, your original post doesn't actually call them out as derivative fantasy books. There's pretty clearly an intended parallel to book/video game tie-ins that's not accurate, as you yourself admit later. I have never read the Witcher books, I have no opinion about them, but you seem to be pretty defensive about this and shifting the goal posts for the discussion away from what was kind of a lovely joke in the first place (as opposed to a clear critique that you make later).
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Feb 18, 2020 18:04
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i suspect bear guy only read the first book and maybe didnt notice that i was specifically praising the last one. frankly its impossible to imagine anyone who has read that book describing it as derivative.
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Feb 18, 2020 18:11
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Check my edit in my previous post. like, these two comparisons are completely preposterous
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Feb 18, 2020 18:12
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anilEhilated posted:His characters spend fifty pages philosophizing before the fight. Ever hear of a guy named Roger Zelazny or read any of his many sword-sorcery stories? That's pretty much all his characters do before fighting.
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Feb 18, 2020 18:38
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biracial bear for uncut posted:Ever hear of a guy named Roger Zelazny or read any of his many sword-sorcery stories? That's pretty much all his characters do before fighting. you seem to think that “has elements in common” means the same thing as “derivative”
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Feb 18, 2020 18:41
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scary ghost dog posted:you seem to think that “has elements in common” means the same thing as “derivative” That is literally one of the definitions of it, yes. Also "influenced by" and a bunch of other phrases that essentially mean the same thing. I never said that was a bad thing, just that the thing you said was the best, isn't.
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Feb 18, 2020 18:44
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biracial bear for uncut posted:That is literally one of the definitions of it, yes. Also "influenced by" and a bunch of other phrases that essentially mean the same thing. Not to you. But to them it is. Let. people. enjoy. things.
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Feb 18, 2020 18:49
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biracial bear for uncut posted:That is literally one of the definitions of it, yes. Also "influenced by" and a bunch of other phrases that essentially mean the same thing. you realize this is the “science fiction and fantasy” megathread? by your definition a book must be derivative to be posted about in this thread, so the word has no meaning. also: are you implying that for something to be the best, it has to have nothing in common with anything else? please stop trying to argue this stupid belabored point that the book i loved isnt actually that good because you have read other books like it before.
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Feb 18, 2020 18:50
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For the record I'm glad you enjoyed the Witcher. Are you going to read more fantasy next or something else? Also, have you played the games? They're pretty baller.
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Feb 18, 2020 18:52
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Riot Carol Danvers posted:Not to you. But to them it is. Let. people. enjoy. things. I'm not stopping them. scary ghost dog posted:you realize this is the “science fiction and fantasy” megathread? by your definition a book must be derivative to be posted about in this thread, so the word has no meaning. also: are you implying that for something to be the best, it has to have nothing in common with anything else? please stop trying to argue this stupid belabored point that the book i loved isnt actually that good because you have read other books like it before. I'm not the one that said any of that, I made comparisons to other works that I think are on the same general level and other people made the leap that I'm saying those things are all equally terrible. "Not the best" is not the same thing as "utter trash".
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Feb 18, 2020 18:54
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scary ghost dog posted:has anyone read the witcher books....i just finished them and i thjnk the last one is the best fantasy book ive ever read. I read em a few years ago and really liked them too. I liked how they were written as history books with the odd "and thirty years later so-and-so would recall" thrown in there.
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Feb 18, 2020 18:54
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biracial bear for uncut posted:That is literally one of the definitions of it, yes. Also "influenced by" and a bunch of other phrases that essentially mean the same thing. Awesome. You do realize even Shakespeare had sources for many of his plays? Finally Giraldi Cinthio will get the recognition he deserves, and Shakespeare will be derided as a hack for using source material for Othello.
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Feb 18, 2020 18:55
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StrixNebulosa posted:For the record I'm glad you enjoyed the Witcher. Are you going to read more fantasy next or something else? im probably going to read the newish first law book next, the big battle scene in lady of the lake reminded me a lot of the way abercrombie wrote the battles in the heroes so ive got a hankering for his style.
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Feb 18, 2020 18:55
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