The Sword and Laser discussion

hi Jaa, Angel, Christine, Michael and Jeff.

it's a great group - i've been here for a couple of months, just started catching up on past podcasts.

Jeff - good to see another gamer. i started out with D&D, now play a multitude of games (as with books, so many, so little time) most weeks. I'm currently running a campaign based on Charles Stross' Laundry books.

Thinks: will have to start a gaming discussion thread....

Hi, I'm Paul

used to read a ton a few years ago, but just fell out of it. Recently got myself a new kindle, and to say i've fallen back in love with reading again is an understatement.
Currently working my way the part one of "The Dark Tower" series by stephen king.
Picked up the podcast last week after hearing Tom mention on TWIT (i think)
And already my amazon wish list is growing.
Looking forward to being part of the group.

Hello, I found Sword and Laser as a podcast on their website about three years ago and joined in their forms, just found the group last Friday, what a great find.

Hey guys,
I'm always looking for something new to read, and Sci-Fi Fantasy is my favorite genre. I just wanted to say hello, follow the rules, and look around the forums a bit. See ya later,
Hunter

Hi all.... I'm Simon and I'm from the UK but now living in Canada.

I'm a HUGE reader and love my kindle a little more than is natural.... no not like that... you know what I mean. ;)

Favourite authors include: Terry Goodkind, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Isaac Asimov, J K Rowling, Len Deighton, George Orwell and Roald Dahl

Mike wrote: "Anyone remember...Dragonworld by Preiss?"

I had fond memories about reading Dragonworld. But I remember none of the stories or characters. I also seem to remember hoping/waiting for a sequel.

Hello, I'm Jay from Vancouver Island, Canada.

I've read sf and fantasy from a young age, at about 19 or 20 I branched out and started reading a lot of stuff in the literary genre. Like a lot of other people, at a certain point I just stopped reading sf & fantasy.

In the last five or six years I've come back to my favourite genres and have been delighted by all the changes that seem to have occurred in the ten years I've been away. (Or do I just chalk that up to the advent of the internet and mail ordering books I never would have had a chance to look at before?)

Right now, I'm probably 48% sf&fantasy and 48% literary. Though it seems there is a good blurring between those two groups and I do love my literary sf & fantasy. Perhaps I'm more of a fantasy reader? I am an English major and find character and plot far more important to me than if the science is right. I dunno, me just like good story.

Some of my favourite sf and fantasy authors, at this particular hearbeat, are: Paul Di Filippo, Haruki Murakami, Jeff Vandermeer, Chris Adrian, Angela Carter, Octavia Butler, Neal Stephenson, Tanith Lee, Terry Pratchett and you know, the rest of 'em.

Hi, I'm Daniel.
I love a good Sci-Fi/Fantasy book. I'm a big fan of frog pants studio and BOL where I heard about this podcast. I'm loving it so far.

I'm a designer of dark attractions at Knott's Berry Farm and a budding writer.

My first novel is being released on amazon.com. It's a YA novel. "The Short Death of Phineas Bean" www.phineasbean.com Love for anyone to read it.
(Enough of the sale pitch.) :)

My favorite books in SciFi:
Foundation, Dune, 1984

My favorites in Fantasy:
Harry Potter, Thomas Covenant, Tolkien

And anything Stephen King

Daniel Miller
www.phineasbean.com

Hello, I'm Bert.

I'm a ICT lecturer from Flanders (the northern, Dutch speaking region of Belgium). I love both sci-fi and fantasy, and my favourites include Neal Stephenson, Terry Pratchett, George RR Martin, and many more. I read about every author/book in the genre I could find in my local library, so now I have to look elsewhere for recommendations on what to read...

Cheers, bert

Hello, I'm Brock.

Being both a tech geek and a sci-fi geek, the combination of The Sword & Laser and my new Kindle has helped rekindle (no pun intended) my love of reading. I look forward to starting my fist book with the club.

Hello all, just finished reading Bloodstone - by Karl Edward Wagner, read these in high school and will be revisiting the anti-hero Kane!Karl Edward Wagner

Hello!
I'm Fredrik of Trondheim (Norway). I've enjoyed listening to the Podcast for a while, but I haven't actually engaged with it, either by contributing in the discussion or by reading the books (or at least not while they were being read). Perhaps I'll start actively following the recommendations?

Currently I'm finishing "Alv Erlingsson - The tale of a nobleman's downfall". It's on Norwegian medieval history, and a good read too, but seing that it's also written in Norwegian, it's probably not a good recommendation. ;)

Next in line for is China Mieville's 'Kraken'

I'm Blair. I would not consider myself a sci-fi person. It does suprise me that the current book of the month is Good Omens; one of my all-time favorite books. Hey, maybe I am a sci-fi guy after all. Who knew?

Hi I'm Wes. I am a big fantasy reader. I just finished "Way of Kings" and am listening to "Good Omens". I can't wait for "The Wise Mans Fear".

I am Ginger Campbell from Alabama. I discover S&L at Dragon*Con 2009 (I could not get into your 2010 panel!). Because I host two science-oriented podcasts most of my reading is non-fiction. I enjoy science fiction for fun, and have been listening to audiobooks from Audible since I bought my first iPod back in 2003.

Thanks to Tom and Victoria I have discovered books I would not have read otherwise. I just finished Good Omens.

I recently listened to The Hunger Games, which was fortunately much less like Lord of the Flies than the description suggested. Now I am finally determined to attack The Baraque Cycle so I am listening to Quicksilver.

Tom and Veronica has inspired me to move my podcast discussion forum to Goodreads.com. So if you are interested in neuroscience I hope you will check it out.

Brain Science Podcast Group on Goodreads.com

Hi, I'm Morten from Bergen, Norway. Big fan of the podcast. Love reading Fantsy and S.F. but also more "normal" literature ;-) I've just finished reading Cryptonomicon and Anathem back to back. They where both really good, but also quite a bit of work to get through (very long!), so now I'm reading something completely different, Moab is My Washpot, Stephen Fry's first autobiography.

Hello, I'm Ray in Burlington, Vermont.
I just found this group while browsing this morning and checked out the podcast. The next thing I knew, it was afternoon and I was listening to Episode 10. I enjoyed them thoroughly (apart from the occasional agist comment - I bought my first copy of "The Hobbit" for the unprecedented price of 95 cents)
Favorite authors - too many to name. General reading habits - 2-4 books at a time from sf, fantasy, mystery, thriller or horror with the occasional graphic novel or history book thrown in. I've tried to pick up on more YA items recently with "The Hunger Games" and "Leviathan".
Currently reading: "Tome of the Undergates", "Behemoth", "Making Money", and "The Living Dead" anthology.

Hi, I'm Michael. I found out about this place though the 'Sword and Laser' podcast. It's nice to have a site like this to keep track of what I'm reading. I like to read fantasy mainly, and rather get my sci-fi fix from TV and movies. I love to read stories, so I'm willing to give almost anything a chance.

Hello everyone, my name is Chase. Im a Gamer, I just finished reading The Lost Gate and I am currently reading The Hunger Games.

I love Harry Potter, the Song of Ice and Fire series and many more fantasy/sci-fi books.

I look forward to getting to know everyone better.

Hello all, my name is Rob and I have loved the podcast for a while and finally got around to joining good reads. I love end of the world, scifi, history and alternate history. My favorite author right now is JL Bourne...DAY BY DAY series. Day by Day ArmageddonBeyond Exile: Day by Day Armageddon

Hello,
I've been listening to S&L for a while, but this'll be my first foray into the forums.

I'm Zeke, I'm in Colorado studying Computer Science in college. I love scifi and fantasy (even though I don't have much time to read anymore, other than my commute to and from college).

My favorite authors are Brian Jacques, Isaac Asimov, C. S. Lewis (Both The Chronicles of Narnia and his Space Trilogy), Lian Hearn, and a few others that I can't remember the names of right now.

My big admission is that I need to read The Lord of the Rings, I'll get on that (next in my audiobook queue).

Yo,
The name's Jazz. I'm currently in HS but taking Community College classes. This has aloud for more reading time than ever.

I live in the outskirts of Seattle, so geek culture isn't hard to find.

This is my first time getting down with a reading club, so excuse me if I seem noobish. Following are some basic favorites and a reading list:

My favorite authors are Patrick Rothfuss, Jim Butcher... I really need to add to that list.

My current reads are Wheel of Time 8 (even though I've grown to hate half the cast and Jordan's writing style), a reread of the Name of the Wind (to prepare for Wise Man's Fear), and I'm listening to the audio version of The Boneshaker (Read by Joss Whedon!), and a reread of both Watchmen and Gaiman's Coraline (both of these are for a school project).

There are thousands of books I mean to read. The most immidiant being: The rest of Wheel of Time (I hate it now... but you don't read half a series and just stop), the last in the Night Angel Trilogy, and I am not a Serial Killer.

Hi
I am Neil from the UK. I am a big fan of David Gemmell, Raymond E Feist, Richard K Morgan, Douglas Adams, Joe Abercrombie and many others.

Looking forward to posting.
Regards
Neil

Hi I'm Mark,

My mum was the librarian, and as you can imagine I have been reading since I can remember. The first books series I can remember reading was Spellsinger series by Alan Dean Foster and Redwall by Brian Jacques.

My favorite authors, this is difficult to answers, but Tad Williams, Robert Jordan, Alan Dean Foster and Terry Pratchett, in no particular order.

I am currently reading The Evolutionary Void by Peter F Hamilton, Wizardborn by David Farland and Otherland series by Tad Williams.

I mainly listen to my books as never have enough time to site and read. I have got George RR Martin A Game of Thrones sitting on my shelf for the last year and haven't had the time the read it, but I will this year!!

I've read the Wheel of Time Series twice, listen once and repeated the last three books 4 times now, role on November for the final :-)

My guilty secret series is Flinx & Pip books by Alan Dean Foster, it's a fun quick read.

Thats me

Hey guys!

My names Keith and i'm a musician living in Ireland. I'm a long time listener to the podcast and it's about time that I joined the group properly.

I'm currently devouring the Song of Ice and Fire novels by George R.R. Martin....wow!!!

Seems like a great site! I'm looking forward to chatting with all of you.

Hi, my name's Havva and my parents met at the sci-fi club in collage, the rest I'll leave to your imaginations.

And I'm joining this list when I really should be studying for my big test next week, eeek!

Gday, im Jared, found out about Sword and Laser when stalking Tom Merrit's podcasts from TNT. An avid fantasy reader, and now audiobook listener. Trying to expand my horizons after primarily reading popular fantasy from authors like Ray Feist, Robert Jordan, Pat Rothfuss, David Eddings...

Thankyou for putting me on to Gene Wolfe - WOW.

welcome everyone!

Jared wrote: "Thankyou for putting me on to Gene Wolfe - WOW. ."

that was exactly my reaction when i first read Wolfe

Jonathan. I followed Paul here. I am extremely intrigued by Gene Wolfe so here I am.

I love fanatsy and sci-fi, in particular new space opera (if done well). I live in Montreal Canada.

I am Benjamin. I take books with me when I go to parties. I read science fiction, politics, and computer books, but I have been branching out into fantasy and urban fantasy.

Currently, I am buying books faster than I can read them. I won't be buying as many books anymore since I got a Kindle. I love the Kindle and would read it always if I didn't have such a backlog of books to get through.

I also work on writing my own books. I have written four books so far and soon hope to write well enough to send one to a publisher.

By day I am a computer programmer and hope to be making a move sometime soon. However, I'll have to pack up all them books.

Hi, i'm Tyrone.

I live in Cornwall in the UK and i often have as many as 3 or 4 books on the go as i have a short attention span.

Been a big reader since i was young and it was Fantasy and Sci-fi which really got me into reading. Having said that i also read contempory and historic fiction, crime and thrillers and books about film. At the end of the day i'd rather read a bad Sci-fi or fantasy book or watch a bad sci-fi or fantasy film or TV programme, that a good one of about any other genre.

I was also a roleplayer (AD&D, Traveller, Cthulu, Paranoia and many others) but these days restrict it to the PC and Xbox and have been obsessed with the Elder Scrolls series, The Fallout series and Balders Gate and Mass effect, although i do still have my dice somewhere.

Just friend me to find out my favourite books and authors!

Hello all! I've been an avid reader since I was a kid, and fantasy and sci-fi have always been major staples of my reading diet. I've never joined a book club/group before, but your group looks fun and I figure it should help me find some new stuff worth reading and discussing.

I'm new to Goodreads and I'm currently taking the time to catalog my books (which is proving to be an arduous task) while moving a lot of them to the attic. Can't bear to part with them (well, most of them) but they're just taking up too much room, and I'm also switching to more ebook based reading.

Anyway, thanks for having me; I look forward to checking out the books of the month. :)

Hi, I'm Dobie. I love reading just about everything - but my favorites are science fiction and fantasy. My favorite authors are David Weber, Jim Butcher (the Dresden series), Heinlein, Asimov, Jordan, and George R.R. Martin.

Hi all. I haven't been on S&L since around the beginning when it was on Ning. Got busy with work. It settled down, now I'm back. Looking forward to starting up again.

I was going to post in one of the other threads, but an introduction was asked for and so I'm here to provide. I love reading books from all sorts of genres, be they sword, laser, historical, biographical or just general textbooks (or whatever genre you want to call things that cover computer algorithmic theory).

I don't think I could easily narrow down a list of my favourite authors, but probably my absolute favourite would be Terry Pratchett and I've read pretty much every book he's written so far (a few glaring omissions none-withstanding). Other than that I'll read more or less anything that appeals to me, although I tend to be drawn very heavily towards the books that cover the making of the hero rather than someone who's already there. As such Patrick Rothfuss and the Kingkiller trilogy are very high on my radar right now.

Since I'm a Brit and the Kindle's only just been released here a few months ago I'm very quickly getting into the idea of ebooks, and while I love the feel of a good new book as much as the next person, I'm finding it far more convenient to use, especially since I have no shelf space left whatsoever in my home. I'm considering the idea of audiobooks too via Audible, but I'm having a little more trouble getting past the concept of not being the one reading it.

One last thing. I'm a horrible procrastinator and get very easily distracted with other books that draw my interest, so I'm currently running nigh on a year behind with some of the Sword and Laser books. Good Omens seems like a good place to jump back on board though, and I guess I can catch up with the other ones when I need a new book.

Hello all.

Longtime lurker, first post to the Welcome & Introduction thread.

I'm Tom and have been reading SF & Fantasy since the late 70s. Kindle and audiobooks have amped up my reading habits in the last couple years, so I usually have at least two books going.

I'm a sucker for dogs, so when an author sticks a dog in the story just so they can kill it off and pull on my heartstrings, it really pisses me off... but still works EVERY TIME! I'm looking at you Justin Cronin! (Just the most recent example... had to get it off my chest.)

Anyway, looking forward to further lurking... and good discussion too.

Hey everyone! I've been a fan of Tom and Veronica since Buzz Out Loud, but I've never gotten down with Sword and Laser. Now that I've joined Goodreads I'm definitely interested in following the books. I don't read as often as I like, but maybe this group and the Goodreads challenges will motivate me!

Ello strangers! I've joined this group not too long ago and just now have some time and courage to finally say hello...

So, the name is Martin and I just got into books recently when I got a Nook for Christmas, before that I read some books here and there.. I love me fantasy the most and a good sci-fi reads, also some good thrillers, steampunk stuff and other things that get my attention and blood pumping, basically I'm open minded when it comes to books. Maybe because I'm still new at this and can't tell good from bad. *shrugs*

Anyway, I look forward to what you guys read, recommend, and talk about... and hopefully I can share the same going forward as the group grows even bigger.

Hi, I'm Ludwig. I love to read. I'm Canadian and a musician.

Hello, I'm Anne, I'm a software developer and I live in Germany.
I have always read a lot and through all genres. I don't stick to Fantasy and Sci-Fi, but I found that a lot of my favorite books are actually of these genres or a mixture including at least one of them.

I always like to get new recommendations or give them and read about what other people thought about books I know, so I guess that's basically what I hope to find here.

I can't wait to finally get a Kindle somewhen really soon and filling it up with new books. My favorite authors are Neil Gaiman, Walter Moers, Haruki Murakami, China Miéville and Dave Eggers. The last one definitely not a sci-fi/fantasy guy, but still awesome... (although "Where the Wild Things Are" might actually go into that direction).

Hello from Toronto! I'm Carrington, an SF fan from back when the Doctor wore a scarf. I speak three languages fluently, but two of them are just English with a silly accent. I'm on a first name basis with the Internet (it calls me Carrington, and I call it RFC 760). I can pronounce my full name backwards, I have a favorite mathematical equation, and I want that $2 you owe me.

Go Team Laser.

Been listening to the podcast for a few weeks and thought I should get started here at goodreads too. I tend to be a sword but I don't mind the laser stuff too. You guys got me to listen to Name of the Wind and I loved it. I used to be a big reader but lately I'm more into audio books since my job allows it, only problem is there aren't enough to keep me going. Maybe this will get me back into reading as well.

Hi Everyone! :) Name is Gabriel, and Ive been part of the group for a long time, but havent really been staying up to date on it. Hope to change that now :) Favorite authors are Dean Koontz, George R R Martin, Steven Gould, and S. L. Viehl. I am head of marketing for a car repair company, and found out about sword and laser thru BOL, but now listen to TNT instead. :) Good stuff.

Hi, I'm Kristi.
I'm an avid sword and laser girl and I'm just finishing Perdido Street Station.
I started listening to the sword and laser podcast to expand my reading- like some of the other members commented, I never knew what to read besides the best sellers and what was in the small community library. I have been enjoying it immensely and can't wait to get on some of the other forums!

Hi, I'm Scott.

Now that I started a thread I thought I should add an intro here. I'm a big fan of Sci-Fi having read many of the classics in the past. I've been listening to the sword and Laser for almost 1 year now and it's provided quite a few titles that I wouldn't have found otherwise. Right now my favorite has been Bitter Seeds.

Hi, I'm Chris.

I found this site and reading club through the interview with Patrick Rothfuss. I am a huge sci-fi and fantasy novel fan, and just a big reader in general. Looking forward to getting involved with a community of readers.

Aloha, I'm Jason and I'm not from Hawaii. :-)

I used to love to read, then unfortunately I got a life. Now I'm trying to do better and read more with the aid of audio books, which have helped greatly. Have heard Tom and Veronica for years on TWiT and that's how I heard about the Sword and Laser. Just listened to the Rothfuss interview and am really looking forward to the book coming out on Tuesday!

Hello! I am jaw. jaw is my usual handle on various boards and I've found that I like it. I just started listening to Sword and Laser as I found it through the recent Patrick Rothfuss interview. Most of my books have been in storage for the last 10 years and I have recently started reading more. I'm hoping to find a few good books.

Hello everyone, I am Shawn from New Brunswick, Canada. I have been an avid reader for many years. My reading preferences run the gamut, but I always prefered fantasy novels. Particularly Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series and George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones.

I have been away from reading due to a new baby and a new job. So after a purchase of a new eReader I have been veraciously reading, trying to catch up to the last two years of fantastic novels.

I stumbled onto this podcast while searching for my next book to read and really enjoyed it. I am currently reading Good Omens and then moving on to Weber so that I can catch up with everyone.

I look forward to discussing the books with everyone.

Hi, I'm Jonathan

I am currently trying to finish my Master's Degree in Information Assurance (graduation in April) and study for my CISSP exam in May so not much time right at the moment for reading.

When I do read I tend to prefer lasers over swords. I also read a lot of nonfiction as well.

My interests include amateur astronomy and photography, sometimes combining the two. I also assist at an Observatory. As well, I am a graduate teaching assistant for several sections of Astronomy Lab.