This is not an elaborate essay, merely a silly observation, but I’m half way through the final book of MS&T and had a weird moment when I realized I didn’t know the breast size of any of the female characters, nor had I followed them into a half-dozen gratuitous bathing scenes. No one had to perform a ritual that required total female nudity (for reasons totally justified by the plot, I promise!), and most sadly of all, no one had been spanked by slipper nor hand.
Wheel of Time does such a…thorough job of engaging you in this kinkiness that it starts to feel normal somewhere around the 5,000th page, but as soon as you’re out the series and reading something decidedly less horny, you get a bit of that after-shame where you reflect on whether those characters did need to become fully nude to become Aes Sedai or sisters, and whether you really needed another scene in the sweat tent where arms were folded beneath breasts.
Could we talk about how fucking good is Fullmetal Alchemist? In anime community is very popular but I never see it being well recognized in fantasy community.
After consume a lot of high fantasy (mostly novels), this manga still one of the best stories of high fantasy I’ve ever experienced and probably the best one from Japan. The first anime adaptation is kinda weird and the second is (for little details) a bit inferior to the manga.
Some of my favorite things about the manga are:
-Probably the most charismatic cast I’ve ever seen, the heroes and the villains have an interesting background story, even some extras and I can’t say that I hate any of this characters, everyone have a purpose in the manga and is well fited with the main conflict.
-A pretty decent worldbuilding, the one needed for the storie but it could be expanded a lot.
-A lot of emotional moments without feeling like you’re being manipulated by the author.
-A perfect hard magic system that …
I know GRRM has said it inspired him but did it inspire everything? I’ve found references to the Faith Militant (Pryrates), the Iron Throne (The DragonBone Chair), Aegon (Aedon), Jamie (Josua); this book said All men must die first, and I’m only 100 pages in. Does someone have a bingo card? Should I make one?
On a more serious note, this book deserves way way waaaaaay more hype. I absolutely love almost everything about it especially the prose and world building. I can’t wait to dive into more Williams. I’ve been in the worst slump but I made so much progress recently I’m actually proud of myself.
I literally just put the book down not even a minute ago. Oh by the Lord Ruler that was an amazing book. This absolutely and completely blew my expectations. This was my first Cosmere book and I cannot wait to keep reading this series and Brandon Sanderson’s work. I really feel accomplished right now, what an amazing adventure I’ve gone on over the past few weeks.
Side note: I think it’s interesting that I finish this book on the exact day of my High School Graduation.
Today is Towel Day (two weeks after the anniversary of Douglas Adams’ death), so seemed like a good time to re-read HGTTG, and it was just as wonderful as I remembered!
The first book in particular, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, is truly incredible! So much joke density and such a wildly detailed and zany plot. The chapters are only a few pages long, but every single one feels like it has something big happening in it, and every page has a joke (and it’s almost always a good one). That makes it so hard to stop reading - you always want to know how their going to get out of their latest crazy situation.
The 4th book, So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, might be my favorite though. It’s relentlessly hilarious, has a somewhat tighter central plot than some of the other books, absolutely nails its big philosophical moments (God’s last message to his creation is one for the ages), and somehow also manages to be a very endearing, not at all too-sweet …
The world today is incredibly stressful. Gun violence, women’s rights issues*, climate change, the list goes on and on. I have a hard time dealing with reality so I read many hours a day. I think it’s becoming an avoidance technique that I’m relying too heavily on. I brought it up with my psychiatrist and she said “well, there are worse ways to cope.” Which I suppose is true. I’m wondering if anyone else is in the same boat.
Edit: for those asking, I read mainly dystopian fiction (make it make sense), Stephen King and other similar authors, and fantasy.
I don’t mean become illiterate, I mean like the ability to sit in one place and let yourself become absorbed in a story. Reading for me the last couple of years feels like a chore. I’ve gone from reading a 400 page book in one stretch to giving up after 2 months of barely getting through the first 10 chapters. Has this happened to anyone else? How did you get it back?
Edit: Really didn’t expect this much feedback! Thank you so much for all the advice and awards. After some introspection I’ve determined my problem may be spending too much time scrolling in my downtime (instagram especially) and it’s reduced my attention span to mulch!
If you’re new to this thread and experiencing the same thing I am, here’s a summary of some of the helpful advice I’ve gotten: 1. Less social media. 2. If you’ve been reading the same things, try something new. 3. If you’ve found it hard to find new things to like, go back to your favourites. 4. …
I saw a post about some company thinking backing up all humanities data to moon and there was a comment that we will find old back ups when we start digging.
What books there are that have similarities? Either people finding out Earth is just a colony or humanity has already spread to galaxy but earth just doesn’t remember it, or there had been human life millions of yeas ago before humans were born or any other variation of these .
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I have read some book or books with this plot line. Maybe Ringworld was one of them?
Looking for book recs that capture the vibe and storytelling style of the books/movie in the title. Basically your classic group of astronauts/explorers out there in the void of space, coming across cosmic mysteries and exploring them, with the whole “sense of wonder” and discovery present as well.
Any suggestions?
While I’m a pretty diverse sci fi reader, one type of story in particular never fails to catch my eye: Anything dealing with people trying to colonize exoplanets. And as a result of this, I’ve read a lot of stories in that vein over the past few years. I know I’m not the only one with an interest in colonization and colony survival stories, and I tend to see the same few books get named pretty often, so I decided to compile this overall list of what I’ve read or plan to read on the subject (anything with an “*” I haven’t read or finished yet) to help out those looking for more recommendations.
I’ve divided it into my own 3 arbitrary stages of colonization: Initial colonization (first settling on an exoplanet/establishing a colony), established colonies (somewhat stable resources/population, or at least isn’t in imminent danger of failing), and finally, lost colonies (failed or failing colonies/ones abandoned by Earth/far enough down the line to have regressed technologically/ones that …
I only find recently written novels from yearly goodread awards or from reddit recommendations.
Is there a better way to keep up with upcoming novels? IMDB has a “coming soon” page, anything like this?
I love the feeling of excitement and suspense waiting for a movie to come out.