Member introductions

[Helen]

Welcome, I am going to have to find out what these drinks are!

[Jasmine M]

Hello, I'm Jasmine and I don't speak English...

just kidding, I do speak English but it's a second language, I'm saying this here because I suffer sometimes from people not getting what I'm trying to explain or discuss...

I'd like to say that I read books to improve my English, but it's only part of the truth, I read book because I love reading...
I mostly read fantasy, with an occasional Sci-fi now and then, I joined this group because I found some interesting discussions of books I already read, and because I'd like to read more Sci-fi and hoping to get joining this group will help me in this regard

[Chris]

Welcome, Jasmine. I think it's great that you're looking to improve your English skills. I know it's definitely a huge challenge to join a reading discussion in a second language. I've studied both Spanish and German, but have never felt that I mastered either enough to attempt discussions with native speakers. Much less reading books.

And for the record, your English seems very good.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome Jasmine. You post is more lucid and understandable than many I've seen from some of us for whom English is a first language. Look forward to seeing more from you.

[Candiss]

Welcome to the group, Jasmine. I hope you discover some wonderful books to discuss with us here.

Your English is quite understandable. I think you will find our group members to be very welcoming and well-mannered regarding communication and language. We're glad you're here!

[Jasmine M]

thanks guys, I didn't expect such welcome, I already decided to read Old Man's Warso I could join in the discussions and be an active member :)

[Hélène]

Welcome, Jasmine. English is my second language too; my participation in discussions sometimes is "laborious" but I'm very glad I've joined Beyond Reality. I hope you'll enjoy the experience as much as I do :)

[Razmatus]

I'm Miroslav, although on internet I am more often called Raziel X, Razmatus or simply Raz, after my fav video game char Raziel from Legacy of Kain series and my fav archangel Raziel :D

I am an avid fan of metal in most of its forms, but I also like orchestral soundtracks, good pop (especially 80s) and other stuff

I am a big fan of fantasy elements, so I play a lot of action adventure games and RPGs with fantasy touches to them

and I do write epic poetry with fantasy edge to it... I finally managed to post some of my stuff in here, so hopefully you enjoy it and will be asking for more, LOL :)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi, welcome.

[Anika]

Hi everyone!
I'm Angelya and I love to read Fantasy and Sci-fi books. I post my reviews on Goodreads and on my blog, The Oaken Bookcase. I look forward to joining in with some discussions!

[Paul]

Hi! I'm Paul and I'm from Finland.

I found this group yesterday. Seems like a perfect place to find and discuss SF and Fantasy books. Not much of a Fantasy reader myself (yet), but I've always loved SF.

I didn't read any books in 10 years until last year I finally got bored of reading newspapers on the buss and decided to pick up Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space. It changed my life. I'm addicted, can't go anywhere without a book anymore. Even my wife has started nagging about it. Why care about what's happening in the real world when my to-read list still contains books by Iain Banks, M. John Harrison, Robert Charles Wilson and others?

[Michael]

Hey all,
I'm Michael and I joined the group maybe 6 months or so but have been just lurkin about since then. I'm coming out of my shell now as I'm excited about June's fantasy selection and want to participate in the group read.

I tend more toward fantasy, and traditional fare more than the dark and gritty stuff as of late. Like many it was The Hobbit and LoTR that got me started. In Science Fiction I've pretty much just read the classics (Asimov, Haldeman, etc).

I also write, but I'll not discuss that here - if you are interested you can check out my profile to learn more.

That's about it for now. I'm excited to be coming out of the closet.

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Welcome, Michaal!!

[Tiemen]

Hello everyone,
I'm Tiemen and I'm from the Netherlands. I became aware of the existence of this group when I stumbled upon Stefan's blog ( btw I really enjoyed reading the interview you did with mister Modesitt).

I prefer hard science fiction - Brian Aldiss, Greg Egan, etc, etc - , but try to have a varied 'diet' of fantasy, regular fiction and history books.

Looking forward to participate in the group read and meeting fellow SF-fans.

[Stefan, Group Founder + Moderator (Retired)]

Welkom, Tiemen! (and thanks for the kind words about the interview - that one turned out very well)

[Daniel]

Hello All. I'm Daniel, and I'm terribly excited to chat with people who seem to love reading as much as I do. Of all my reading friends, there is only one who enjoys actually discussing books in detail rather than giving a simple like/dislike. Reading through some of your past discussions already has me eager to start reading some of the July selections.

I live in Canada (just east of Toronto), and, although my reading taste is quite eclectic, sci-fi and fantasy tend to be my genres of choice.

I will admit up front that I have no love for some of the hottest fantasy cycles right now (Robert Jordan, Steven Erikson, George R. R. Martin). Three fantasy authors I've recently enjoyed are Adrian Tchaikovsky, Joe Abercrombie and Robin Hobb.

I haven't really delved into hard sci-fi yet, but recommendations are welcome. John Scalzi is at the top of my list, with Neal Stephenson and Peter F. Hamilton always being a welcome addition to my reading queue.

I can't wait to meet you all, and to join in conversation with people who are so obviously passionate about their reading.

[Jim]

Welcome Daniel. For hard SF, I can offer two more names: Iain M. Banks and Alastair Reynolds. Space operas for the most part, actually, but grounded in science.

[Snarktastic Sonja]

HI! While I enjoy both Science Fiction and Fantasy, at this point in my life I find myself more drawn to fantasy novels. Though that is getting quite tough as I do NOT like vampires. (And I am sick to death of vampires and werewolves.)

As I have started reading many, MANY of our beloved series when the writers were first published, I am now to the point of only desiring to read series that are completed. (I tired of waiting for the WoT books WAY before Mr. Jordan died. and that is just ONE example.

I also get very involved with the characters in books I read. Therefore, I tend to like books with more conversation than description (I can create my own pictures - but I crave people) (Ok so all my pictures look the same - but does that REALLY matter?)

I look forward to sharing adventures with y'all.

[Candiss]

I need to pop into this thread more often!

Welcome to the recent new members. :)

[Justin]

Hello all, I'm Justin. I joined here less than a week ago because I published my first e-book, but only mentioning that because it is the reason I joined haha.

Anyways, I love Sci-fi and Fantasy, although I'm not as wide read as some people will be on this site. I tend to find series' that I love and stick to them like glue.

examples: I've read probably 50 dragonlance books, I've read all of the Honor Harrington books (some of them twice, planning a third re-read for next year).

And because of the HBO series I'm now hooked on the Game of Thrones books.

I'm a big LotR and Star Wars fan (although not much into the Star Wars books).

I enjoy other books by Margaret Weis, I've resisted picking up other David Weber books for fear of being hooked even more lol (the man is a beast, working on like 6 projects at once).

I also enjoy some spy thriller, such as the Bourne Trilogy although I haven't read much beyond that.

[Jolie]

Hey, gang! Most people call me Aazari (ah-ZAR-ee) or Aaz, but I do the art and writing thing under my real name. I also play hand drums and bamboo flutes and spin poi (basically fire spinning without the fire).

I've got eclectic interests in sci-fi, horror and fantasy. I grew up watching the various Star Trek series with my mom. Star Wars was my first major sci-fi movie. I started out very young drawing fantasy/sci-fi/horror type creatures and just rabidly consumed those genres once I realized the variety of books available.

[Stan]

I'm Stan Morris from Maui. I garden, listen to music, read, watch sports, and spend way too much time on the internet. I like hard SF like Heinlein, and Asimov, but I'm also a fan of good historical fantasy like Tolkien and Mary Stewart. I've written several books which I won't mention.

[Paul]

Hi, I'm Paul from the UK.

I joined after following a link from /r/PrintSF on Reddit. I've been an avid (voracious?) reader of SF for nearly 30 years since the age of 11 and was raised on a diet of Doctor Who, Blake's 7 and Star Trek.

I'm a fan of British authors Alastair Reynolds, Iain Banks, Terry Pratchett and,Charles Stross as well as Larry Niven, Jack Campbell (John G Hemry),Richard K. Morgan and Robert A. Heinlein.

I also read some Historical Crime (Candace Robb, Ellis Peters) and contempory crime (Kathy Reichs, Jefferson Bass) novels. In fact I'll read pretty much anything with the exception of bodice rippers and Merchant Ivory.

I'm also a 'Gamer' mostly on PC and mostly space sims and first person shooters, I've been doing that since I was 11 as well.....

Anyway, since I'm not sure what else to say, I'll leave it there. Nice to meet you all.

[Shel, Moderator]

Welcome all! Glad to meet you!

[Candiss]

Welcome, everyone! I'm looking forward to chatting books with you all. :)

[Candiss]

Samantha wrote: "Hi Candiss, thank you for the welcome. Much appreciated. Am more into Sci-Fi than fantasy. Hope that's ok with this group. Grew up on Dr Who mainly regarding books.

Sam O:-)"

Of course that's ok, Samantha. We're a sci-fi and fantasy group. We have members who prefer one or the other or who love both equally. :)

[Kathi, Moderator & Book Lover]

Samantha wrote: "So is there a particular book everyone in the group is reading at present that's open for discussion here? Or do we just have random talks on anything F & SF?"

Welcome, Samantha. We have a SF and a F book of the month for discussion, as well as an ongoing series discussion. Go the the groups homepage and you can see them there.

[L.E.]

Hi guys. I'm Lynzie from Wales. Love weird and wonderful books and looking for lots of recommendations.

[L.E.]

Thanks Sam - so far so good here : )

[Laz]

Hey all - I'm Laz. Been wandering GR for a while but haven't really found the best group for SF. This one looks more promising and active, so I'm in.

[نهى]

Hiiii, every one am soooooo glade to be with you ^_^

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Oops...stopped getting updates. Welcome anyone I missed!

[Chris]

Hi, I'm Chris and an infrequent Yahoo group poster, but I'm catching up. I'm fairly new to Goodreads, in that I've only been posting regularly for the past four months or so. I love anything by Alan Dean Foster and Poul Anderson, as well as the classic, golden age writers of SF.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I like some mysteries, but never could get into Agatha Christie, welcome.

[Tim]

Hi everyone. My name is Tim and I enjoy both Sci-fi and fantasy. I'm hoping to make a few friends here and find a few gems to read along the way. See you in the discussions :)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi, welcome.

[Oni]

Hi everyone. I stumble on this group accidentally. I cannot wait to join the next book discussion. Already geared up for Snow Crash.

[Filipp]

Hey sci-fi and fantasy fans! I dicided to join your group because I haven't read enough SF & F. I usually read classics and philosophy. If you have any suggestions on what are the best books to start in SF, I want to hear them. Now, let's read.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome.

Filipp, are you looking for science fiction that's more "hard sci/fi" (not to argue over that too much) or more fantasy?

[Oni]

Hi Filipp, I think we are on the same boat here. I mostly read non-fiction also, some classics, some modern science (and some research paper).
Moderators, is it appropriate to discuss this question in this thread, or maybe we just create a new thread?

[Candiss]

So many new members! Welcome to you all. :)

Oni wrote: "Hi Filipp, I think we are on the same boat here. I mostly read non-fiction also, some classics, some modern science (and some research paper).
Moderators, is it appropriate to discuss this question..."

Oni and Fillipp - If you scroll down to the section for General SF&F Discussion on the group homepage, you can start any sort of SF/F related discussion threads you like. You will likely get more traffic there and more input. It will also help keep this Introductions thread at least semi-manageable and neat. :)

[Samuel]

Hi, I'm Sam. I'm relatively new to GoodReads. I'm a webcomic artist and writer, and a near-lifelong fan of fantasy and sci-fi, for which I blame the day two words jumped out at me on a school library rack: The Hobbit.

Favorite authors include, but are not limited to Tolkien, Herbert, Heinlein, Asimov, Howard, and Lovecraft.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Samuel, welcome. You should fit right in.

[Selena]

Hello everyone. Happy to be a part of this group. I read sci-fi and fantasy along with other genres as well. I cut my teeth on Terry Brooks' Sword of Shannara, Logan's Run, Dune and everything Ray Bradbury.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Selena, welcome.

[Tim]

Hello Sam and Selena, good to have you here.

[Patrick]

Hey all New to site, but seems nice, great way to get to know more authors, books, ... Favorites : E A Poe, Stephen King, Clive Barker ( Imagica ), Tolkien , Tanith Lee and so many more :)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi, welcome.

[Victoria]

I'm Victoria, 26, from New Orleans. Fantasy reader/writer and grad student of Spanish lit. Nice to meet everyone!

[Samuel]

Bienvenida!