So I’m hoping to make this more than just a recommendation post, I’m also interested in discussion! So, I guess I’ll start musing about what I’m thinking of, and what questions I have.
As near as I can tell, there aren’t many doing what Pratchett did. I mean, there’s lots of ‘fantasy humor’ books, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of ‘fantasy humor’ that’s characterized by, well… sophisticated, subdued, witty humor styles with strong characterization, likable characters, deep world-building, some level of fantasy trope deconstruction and sociopolitical commentary, but not tending to be too on-the-nose or over the top or overly straightforward in doing those.
So my questions are more like… who has attempted this kind of thing? How did it go? Was there a push for this sort of writing when the Discworld books were trending popular? How and when did that happen? What authors in Fantasy (or I suppose …
Just reached the end of the Assassin’s Quest, the last volume of this trilogy. I don’t remember being this hooked on a book since I read ASOIAF by GRRM for the first time a couple years back.
This trilogy has just got better with every single volume. In my opinion the Assassin’s Quest is the best book in this series, even though it has some pacing issues. I enjoyed the last volume the most because there we readers got at last to see the Six Duchies outside The Buckkeep.
Another thing I want to point out is that there are just so many emotional scenes and heartbreaking moments in these books. One of the examples is when Verity was bidding farewell to Fitz, Kettricken and others before giving up his life to wake up the stone dragon. Verity’s character arc is just so sad in my opinion. He had to suffer so much and sacrifice everything to save the Six Duchies. He was one of my favourite characters and I will miss him in the books to come.
My only criticism about this novel is that …
I’m feeling lonely right now. I just need some escapism fantasy where the protagonist receives unconditional love from his family, friends and romantic interest.
I’d appreciate a nice plot as well :)
What an amazing sci-fi collection, Pierce Brown really brings a universe to life, mixing past Roman ideology to a future where a breed of enhanced humans calling themselves golds have terraformed all planets in the solar system and have created a “utopia” which they call The Society. Organising different job components of what they believe to be an ideal society to a pyramid of colours i.e. gold as the peak of humanity, silvers the business managers, white as religious overseers, black as warrior giants, yellows as doctors, greens as technology experts, orange as mechanics, etc. A red working in the Mars mines finds out his gold leaders have been lying to his entire red brethren about the supposed inhabitability of Mars, forcing them to live out their days working for them underground promising that one day they will be able to inhabit the surface. After much turmoil and tragedy he makes it to the surface and joins an uprising against his gold masters.
Not for the faint of …
Hi, I can’t remember the title of a book that I’ve read a review about: the novel reads in the beginning as historical fiction set in medieval times, where a priest is sent to a remote town or church to find and destroy heretical texts and objects. If I remember correctly, the priest starts struggling with his conscience upon reading those forbidden texts, which turn out to be literature or science of more then a thousand years back before an apocalypse destroyed the world. Sounds a little like A Canticle for Leibowiz, but it’s another novel, I think a more recent one. Can anyone help with a suggestion?
Edit: thank you u/Daraghotoole for solving my quest, and thanks all for the many great suggestions, my TBR is again bulging at the seams :)
Title pretty much says what I’m looking for. Smutty speculative fiction that has a good plot. Any suggestions?
What I’m looking for is low stakes, maybe utopian, or at least on the chiller side, sci-fi. For example, the series mentioned is a philosophical musing on existence through the eyes of a tea monk and a robot that’s deeply attuned with nature taking place in a pastoral landscape.
Anime and manga seem to have a fascination with this. Aria is the first thing that comes to mind. There, the protagonists are studying to become gondoliers and guides in the city of Neo-Venetia which is located on the now terraformed Mars. Or Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou in which an android runs a cafe, drives a scooter and connects with people in a gentle post-apocalypse that instils longing and melancholy. Fantasy series like Mushishi, Spice & Wolf and Natsume’s Book of Friends fit the tone I’m looking for.
What are some of the best books that deal with the concept of generation ships? Thanks in advance for the recommendations, guys!
I’m new to sci-fi and never read any books concerning generation ship and that concept sounds very interesting, heard Aurora is preety good, would like this groups opinion and I’m open to suggestions as well if any better books or series out there.
Edit : You guys are brilliant, this sub is probably the best sci-fi sub and you all are wholesome and encouraging, i did not expect such an overwhelming response to my question, thank you everyone!!
You know those mediocre mega authors like James Patterson, Dean Koontz, and David Balducci? What sci-fi authors are equivalent?