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PaperclipPerfector  8mo ago (text post)   2424 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for September 1, 2023

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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I forgot how god damn fun the series Cradle by Will Wight is. Something about the cultivation/progression fantasy genre just really speaks to me, inspires me in a way other fiction doesn't do often enough.

On the non-fiction side it's rarer to find a fun book, but I remember really liking Moonwalking with Einstein, where a journalist learns to become a memory champ.

What are some of the most fun things you've read, fiction or non fiction?

Lmao, why is everyone talking about this progression fantasy ? I found it peculiar when ZeroHPL said he started an unfinished xianxia novel about Barron Trump...

Although I'm guessing a few of the longer-running fantasy series I've re-read over the years qualify.

Dresden files is pretty entertaining if a bit too American. (even the hellish villains play relatively nice and fair). The Alex Verus series is somewhat similar, but the enemies are, for a change, refreshingly 'normal' and behave as badly as people would if given unlimited power.

Tbh I liked it more - Dresden Files was not intended as a series, with Verus I'm fairly sure there was a plan from the start so it fits together more neatly. And it also has a plausible mechanism for why the protagonist survives all these tough fights - his brand of magic allows him to see short-term futures. The only infuriating thing is why is he poor-ish ? If I could see short-term futures I'd first get banned from all the casinos and then start trading stocks. Dealing with whatever would be a lot easier with half a platoon of very well paid special forces veterans on retainer.

Come to think of it, most western examples of the genre seem to involve dubious pacts with unholy powers or doing extremely unadvisable things with dangerous magical artifacts out of sheer desperation.

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