Basically the title.

In germany, we have Regionalkrimis, regional crime stories, where a - often rural, sometimes touristy - region is not only the backdrop of the story, but integral part of it. With real villages, regional festivities or beliefs depicted front and center.

Every bookstore in germany has a corner with the Regionalkrimis of “their” region. It’s a pretty huge deal.

In Britain, there is the whole boarding school genre where teens in boarding schools solve crimes, i.e. Harry Potter or St. Clare’s. Outside of Britain, they’re just fantasy or children’s books respectively.

Japanese animes (like Kickers or Heidi) where seen as cartoons here, until they rose in popularity in the 2000s and where classified as their own thing.

Does your/any country have something like that (which fits under the umbrella-term ‘fantasy’?)

I feel like GRRM made the storyline more bloated and complex with the last 2 books than needed, all so it could become material for the GoT show. I discovered ASOIF because of GoT. But I can’t help but feel like the success of the show got to his head, and made him write more characters and material than he originally planned.

I personally think a draft exists of his original Winds of Winters book, but the backlash from the GoT ending made him want to rewrite it. So now he’s stuck trying to make it “better” in order to avoid the backlash. He loves to write and still writes new stuff, just not WoW. But I refuse to believe something tangible doesn’t exist.

E: THANKS EVERYONE! So many recs. You’re the best!

Now the petite heroine is a trope I am sure a lot of you have noticed in fantasy (and sci-fi and YA and everything-else) books. When there’s a female protagonist, she is not only small, but there’s often many mentions about just how small and delicate and skinny and bony and scrawny she is. And sometimes mentions of how she compares herself to other girls or women who are more shapely.

Mistborn Vin. Divergent Tris. Hunger Games Katniss (edit, note: books). Mortal Instruments Clary. Beautiful Creatures Lena. Blood Red Road Saba. And of course the romantasy petites, ACOTAR Feyre, Fourth Wing Violet, Twilight Bella.

You can leave fantasy and sci-fi for a bit but you won’t get rid of the petite heroine. In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the main character is actually inspired by a girl with anorexia, but she is, of course, simply naturally tiny as the petite heroine should be.

I read a lot of books as a child …

I’m not looking for just epic worldbuilding or cool magic systems, I’m talking about fantasy books that bend your mind. Stories that left you reeling, questioning reality, re-reading passages to make sense of what just happened.

Maybe it shattered structure, Maybe it played with time, identity, unreliable narration or layered political schemes so deep you needed a diagram. Maybe the author didn’t just build a world, they broke it and reassembled it in a way you never expected.

What’s that one fantasy novel that shattered your expectations and lingered in your thoughts long after the final page?

Minimal or no romance is preferred and bonus points if it’s dark, philosophical or loaded with masterful schemes. Drop the title and tell me why it hit that hard (no major spoilers, please)!

For example, I read a book the other day that takes place in a fantasy world and a character used the expression “cross to bear.” There are gods in this world but none of them are Jesus or have been crucified.

Another book I saw online took place in a fantasy world yet described one of the characters as wearing an Italian suit. There was no Italy in that world.

I’ve also seen people complain about the term “French braid” in fantasy lands where there is no France, but that one I think is fine as there really isn’t an alternative way to describe that hair style.

Do you ever notice these things? Do they bother you?

ETA: I see a lot of people comment about how books are translations and I agree, but that doesn’t mean you can just get away with saying whatever you want. Ken Liu has many great points on how much of an idiom or phrase to translate and how much to keep culturally specific.

Also, I see some people going to the extreme and taking …

I mean most cruel ,video,vicoous,brutal etc nonhuman races that you know. May but not need to be Nsfw

This genre is one of my favorites. 🇺🇸 In books by authors like Tom Clancy, Vince Flynn, Brad Thor and Mark Greaney, the president is usually depicted as a brave and decent man or woman who cares about the country and its people. Reading these books now I honestly don’t know what to think.

I’m specifically looking for a novel where people have a sort of society you’d see in a post apocalypse or even poor country, where there’s a wide range of technology, very little of which is produced by them, and they’re just sort of getting by, and they’re otherwise kinda pre industrial.

I’m not looking for a book where researchers, or anyone, is exploring a megastructure that humanity has discovered and something removed from every day life, like most megastructure books it seems, or something like Blame!, where there seems to be a lot of emphasis on the technology.

I’m looking for something where the megastructure is banal and almost just like a geological foundation to its inhabitants. The megastructure itself seems to be almost dead, though there can be inexplicable moving parts, or even a lot, creating danger (I kinda have Maze Runner traps in mind, but without the creatures). Obviously the plot can be whatever from there.

A Memory Called Empire is undoubtedly one of the best books of the last 10 years.

Many of you will have read it and enjoyed the excellent world building that seems alien, but complex and compelling. It’s very ritualistic and shown to us rather than described. At the same time we have a main character who is coming to terms with a strange voice in her head while trying to solve a mystery.

If you enjoyed it can I suggest Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee, which was released in 2016 and while it was nominated for both a Hugo and a Nebula it, to my mind, is far less celebrated. It gives the same kind of vibes and I think if you enjoyed one you would hopefully enjoy the other.

Today’s frustration bought to you by Man Who Could See Seconds, featuring police officer Paskalakki, or “shit hat” in English.

I understand the author doesn’t like cops, but it’s hard keeping my suspension of disbelief when following the adventures of Biggus Dickus.

I’m only 13 but A Scanner Darkly got me into science fiction and now I’m a huge PKD fan

For me I’d have to say Flowers for Algernon. This book made me cry, it’s really easy to do that with good writing but my point still stands. The writing style, the characters and the story as a whole were so amazing that I don’t think I’ll ever read anything like it again.

Do you have a book similar to this?

Here’s the link to the story: https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-twenty-one-second-god/

This was just published earlier this month. It was released on his blog as a “fiblet” and stated in the comments that this story occurs in the Blindsight universe, which blew my mind. In the recently published story, The Colonel (Jim Moore, Siri’s father) plays a role in studying an emergent hyperintelligence that awoke during a 21-second event that killed or left in a vegetative state nearly 15 million people. Those that were involved and left unscathed were sought out and studied, which plays out in the story.

I’m gonna make a mental leap that this is likely part of the Omniscience story and might be connected in more ways than just through The Colonel. I’m half-expecting the backstory to the Bicamerals and the entity they pray to, some parts involving Brüks’ wife as a “cloud killer” and the ethical and philosophical issues that …

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Bio:

Ed Begley Jr. - If there’s a movie or TV show you really like, chances are, Ed’s been in it. Ed has seven Emmy nominations, a Golden Globe nomination and has appeared in over 270 TV shows and movies throughout his prolific career. He played Dr. Ehrlich on the television series ST. ELSEWHERE, and he also co-hosted the green living reality show LIVING WITH ED. He is a recurring cast member in Christopher Guest mockumentaries, including THIS IS SPINAL TAP, BEST IN SHOW, A MIGHTY WIND, and more. Ed starred in SHE-DEVIL, the GHOSTBUSTERS reboot, Woody Allen’s WHATEVER WORKS, and PINEAPPLE EXPRESS. He has held recurring roles on the TV hits ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, SIX FEEET UNDER, PORTLANDIA, BETTER CALL SAUL, FUTURE MAN, GARY UNMARRIED, VERONICA MARS, PARENTHOOD, BLESS THIS MESS, and MODERN FAMILY. In addition to recently recurring on …