Introduce Yourself! (Archived)

[[deleted user]]

Aric wrote: "Hi! everyone. I'm new to the group and Goodreads. I've been a fan of sci-fi/fantasy ever since a friend lent me a copy of the Crystal Shard by R.A. Salvatore..."

Hi, Aric, and welcome to both Goodreads and the group. Pick a toadstool and have yourself a seat around the fire.

[Lynda]

Joey wrote: "Hey I'm Joey, I'm new. Where do I park my dragon?"
Dragons on the left, spaceships on the right. :-)

[Lynda]

Bobby wrote: "Lynda wrote: "I contend that SF is actually a very old genre. Just saying. I think it has as much to do with myth and legend as it does with scientific speculation although today questions raised b..."
Depends on how you classify. Samuel Clements, for example, is all 'hard' science speculation (i.e. chemistry) with little 'soft' science speculation. Ursula Le Guin is more social sci fi. Personally, I think there's social speculative fiction in works like Gulliver's Travels, which is not about hard science. And even in the myth-making of pre-science civilizations. Stories about Amazons, for example, explore the question "what if women ran a warrior society without men?"

[[deleted user]]

fantasy is old as language....Harlan Ellison contends it goes as far back as Og the caveman telling tales around the fire about all those creepy sounds out there in the dark....fantasy bleeds over into SF at times as we all know...me, I consider everything pre-Gernsback proto-SF....be it plantary romance (EBR), scientific romance (Wells), Utopian Fiction, ect. Gernsback reconized the trend, gave it it's orginal home (Amazing Stories) and named it (in Wonder Stories)...you can make a powerful argument against Gernsback as "The Father of Science Fiction", and you may be right, but many of us Old Pharts will tell ya your all wet

[[deleted user]]

Also, a big WELCOME to all our new members!! Like G33 says, pull up a toadstool...Jarvis, our robot butler will be along shortly with drinks...he makes a mean sweet tea bty...join in on any of the conversations and above all, have fun. :D

[[deleted user]]

:D

[[deleted user]]

Nimrodel wrote: "Hi everyone, My name is Guadalupe from Argentina and I'm just a simple reader that wants to meet and share ideas with people with the same interests. I'm looking forward to find a place here, thank..."

Hi, Guadalupe. Welcome to the group. Jump right in to any conversation that catches your interest.

[S.C.]

Hi everybody,

I am a British/Italian/Australian reader, currently living in Italy.

I am particularly interested in post-apocalyptic and early medieval and classic analogue worlds.

I look forward to getting to know you all.

[[deleted user]]

S. C. wrote: "Hi everybody, I am a British/Italian/Australian reader, currently living in Italy. I am particularly interested in post-apocalyptic and early medieval and classic analogue worlds...."

Welcome to both Goodreads and the group, S.C. Look forward to getting to know you, too.

If you're interested in post-disaster worlds, we have an older topic on Apocalyptic/post apocalyptic books, that might offer a few suggestions and you might like to extend with a few favorites of your own.

[S.C.]

Thanks

[Juston]

Thank you G33z3r!

That apocalyptic / post apocalyptic discussion is very handy! I've just finished Margret Atwood's Apocalyptic - Social Science Fiction / Speculative Fiction ;-) - novel Oryx and Crake and was just thinking about options for similarly themed reads!

Cheers

[Ariel]

G33z3r wrote: "Nimrodel wrote: "Hi everyone, My name is Guadalupe from Argentina and I'm just a simple reader that wants to meet and share ideas with people with the same interests. I'm looking forward to find a ..."

Hi Nimrodel... what a beautiful name! Are you an Elf maiden too? Nimrodel is the name of an elf who was lost while trying to reach her beloved... in JR Tolkien's Middle Earth. A magical name! Welcome..

[Nerva]

Hi, I'm Althus and I'm new to goodreads...I hope to find a lot of books to comment on and people to talk books with :).

[[deleted user]]

Althus wrote: "Hi, I'm Althus and I'm new to goodreads...I hope to find a lot of books to comment on and people to talk books with :)."

Hi, Althus, and welcome to both Goodreads and the group! I hope you find our conversations interesting. Glad to ahve you in aboard.

[Dianne]

Hi All! I'm Dianne and this is my first GR group. I'm 30 and have been reading fantasy since I was 12. My first was David Eddings though I can't remember which one, only that I was drawn into an entirely different world where my imagination could run riot and I fell in love with this feeling. I was a very early reader and often stole my mother's books (she was a Stephen King/Dean Koontz fan and felt these books were inappropriate for a child....after reading Gerald's Game, I came to agree) but the horror genre didn't grab hold like the fantasy did so I've pretty much stuck with that ever since. Over the past year I have been delving more in sci fi, just finished my first read through of Dune (gutted it took me 30 years to get to it!), and am currently reading Asimov. Looking forward to getting inspirations from the group and continuing my journey! Apologies for typos- on mobile.

[Mike]

Dianne wrote: "Hi All! I'm Dianne and this is my first GR group. I'm 30 and have been reading fantasy since I was 12. My first was David Eddings though I can't remember which one, only that I was drawn into an en..."

Hello Dianne! I think you will find this group to be the best on GR it is well managed and friendly. Glad to have ya. Jump in to any our discussions!

[[deleted user]]

Dianne wrote: "Hi All! I'm Dianne and this is my first GR group. I'm 30 and have been reading fantasy since I was 12. My first was David Eddings though I can't remember which one, only that I was drawn into an entirely different world..."

Welcome to the group, Dianne, and groupdom in general. I hope you'll let your imagination run riot here for a bit.

[Tim]

Hello, I'm Tim Moon. I'm an author and reader from Washington State, although I'm leaving for China Wednesday night. I love science fiction and fantasy, among other genres. The most recent scifi/fantasy book that I read was The Strain by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro. If you want to read a new take on vampires or if you like del Toro's films, you'll probably enjoy it.

[Greg]

Hey, Tim. I lived in Shenzhen, China, for 5 years. Good luck!

[C.T.]

Hey folks, I saw this group and had to join it. I love Heroic fantasy with a passion. From Azeroth, to Tolkien and beyond, it's been a big part of my life since I was little.

[J.P. Yager]

Hello! Huge sci-fi/fantasy fan here. I read way more than I write. On a John Scalzi kick right now but plan to go back to Brandon Sanderson for the 4th Mistborn novel.

Isaac Asimov is easily one of my favorites with his Foundation series.

I look forward to sharing with the group. Especially any recommendations I come across.

[[deleted user]]

C.T. wrote: "Hey folks, I saw this group and had to join it. I love Heroic fantasy with a passion. From Azeroth, to Tolkien and beyond, it's been a big part of my life since I was little."

Hi, C.T. and welcome to the group. Please join right in.

[[deleted user]]

J.P. Yager wrote: "Hello! Huge sci-fi/fantasy fan here. I read way more than I write. On a John Scalzi kick right now but plan to go back to Brandon Sanderson for the 4th Mistborn novel..."

Hi, J,P, thanks for posting an intro. So Are you reading your way through authors whose names start with "S"?

[J.P. Yager]

LoL. Ya I guess so.

[Nerva]

Hello!

[Kati]

Hey guys! I'm Kati, I just joined the group a couple of minutes ago :P I'm a member of two other book groups here on goodreads, but they focus on romance and mostly YA books, so I wanted something more to my tastes :)

I'm currently reading A Storm of Swords in A Song of Ice and Fire, and fantasy is usually my genre of choice. I'm a big fan of sci-fi as well, and I'm looking forward to getting into that genre more :D

[Nerina]

Hello :)! I am Nerina, this is my first group in GR, I love reading books since I was a kid, Sci-fi and fantasy is my fav kind of books. The last book I had read is the king killer chronicles, love them n waiting for the third book. I am not much into Love n romance kinda stories, so by joining this group I was hoping anyone can help me by suggesting what book I should read.
Thanks a bunch ^^ btw I am planning to read Ender's game, anyone can give me some hint is it a good book or not? thanks a bunch

[Nerva]

Welcome Nerina! Enders is great, Alvin Maker series also good (same author as ender), What kind of fantasy do you read? It is always easier to recommend something when you know what way to turn your thoughts. :-)

[[deleted user]]

Kati wrote: "Hey guys! I'm Kati..."

Nerina wrote: "Hello :)! I am Nerina, this is my first group in GR..."

Hi Kati. Hi Nerina. Welcome to the group!

[Ariel]

Enders Game is a brilliant read or to watch. You can actually watch it online free. Highly recommended..

[Nerva]

Ariel wrote: "Enders Game is a brilliant read or to watch. You can actually watch it online free. Highly recommended.."

I saw the enders game movie a few weeks ago and it kind of struck me as a bit meah...I mean it just didn't stand out in anyway for me. The CGI was good the acting was ok the adaptation from book to movie script was good (it is not an easy book to adapt) but when it is all put together it was just none.

[Daniel]

Hi, I'm Dan. I've discovered Goodreads only recently, and I wish I had given it a chance MUCH sooner.

It sounds to me like you've read many of the same books as I did growing up. I started on Lloyd Alexander and C.S. Lewis as a boy and eventually (after a lot of mythology) made my way to Tolkien, Raymond E. Feist, Michael A. Stackpole, Glen Cook, Patrick Rothfuss, and now I'm trying to avoid George R. R. Martin (because chivalry doesn't exist in his world).

On the Science Fiction side of things, I enjoy Ray Bradbury, Phillip K. Dick, Paul Cook, William Gibson, China Mieville, and, most recently, Ernest Cline.

Apart from my current gig as an English teacher, I have been a call center monkey, assistant burger flipper, skeleton shift security guard, ghostwriter, editor, blogger, and, as of last year, Sci-Fi author.

My first novel, The Wolf of Descarta, combines my love of reading Speculative Fiction with my video game addiction. While it goes pretty far afield into the Cyberpunk subgenre, it remains a love letter to Fantasy.

I'm currently reading Ernest Cline's Ready Player One, which I discovered when a reviewer compared me to him. She wasn't wrong. So far, I'm really enjoying Cline's work because it speaks to me on every level of geekery that I identify with. I'm also reading a couple of indies, Marion York's Factions: Coup d'Etat, and J.B. Rockwell's Breakshield, which are Sci-Fi and Fantasy respectively.

My goal this semester is to read more books outside of the classroom than I currently read with my students. Teaching and writing can make it difficult to just sit down and read for the sheer joy of it--but I miss that, and I'm going to try to get it back. Maybe being in a book group like this one will help.

Nice meeting you all.

[[deleted user]]

Daniel wrote: "Hi, I'm Dan. I've discovered Goodreads only recently, and I wish I had given it a chance MUCH sooner...."

Hello, Dan. Welcome to both Goodreads and the group. Hope you'll join us in discussing some of your favorites or finding new ones.

[Nerva]

Hi Daniel, I would avoid Game of thrones like the plague! It is so not worth the time to read it! :-)

[Mike]

Daniel wrote: "Hi, I'm Dan. I've discovered Goodreads only recently, and I wish I had given it a chance MUCH sooner.

It sounds to me like you've read many of the same books as I did growing up. I started on Lloy..."

Glad to have ya Dan! You picked very smartly as this is a well ran group.
Look forward to discussing books with you. Jump in.

[Ariel]

Althus wrote: "Ariel wrote: "Enders Game is a brilliant read or to watch. You can actually watch it online free. Highly recommended.."

I saw the enders game movie a few weeks ago and it kind of struck me as a bi..."

@Althus What I liked was the "twist" at the end!! The end acted as the cohesive agent to the whole story. Reminds me of Stephen King's habit of making the story ending a thought provoking punch line. If you want an example - try Cell... LOL - science fiction, humourous, and horror - all with a weird twist at the end!

[Nerva]

@ Ariel The twist was at the end of the book to, but somehow it was far more profound than they made in the movie...

[Mike]

I did not like "Ender" movie at all! The book is sooooooooo much better.

[Nerva]

waaaaaaayyyyy better!!!!!

[K.F.]

Hello, all!

My name is Kendra, but I go by K.F. just as readily. I was started on Fantasy and Science Fiction at a young age by my father, who would give me his Sword and Sorceress (by MZB) anthologies to read, along with the occasional Sci-Fi book. And for the longest time, I refused to read anything other than those two genres (unless it was required by school). :P Eventually, however, my reading branched out to enjoy urban fantasy, and paranormal romances (especially vampires).

I have always loved creating stories, and have recently become an author (Kindle Direct Publishing only, for the time being). I also heavily enjoy video games, and being outside with my three pet chickens (they do some pretty hilarious stuff).

As for Ender's Game: I'll probably agree on most points about how the book's story was way better than the movie, but wow...the visual effects were AMAZING! O_O

- K.F. Silver

[[deleted user]]

Hi everyone. It is nice to meet all of you.

[[deleted user]]

K.F. wrote: "My name is Kendra, but I go by K.F. just as readily. I was started on Fantasy and Science Fiction at a young age by my father, who would give me his Sword and Sorceress..."

Hi, KF. Welcome to the group. I have the first dozen Sword and Sorceress anthologies; I believe the series is still going, after a couple of lapses. I hope you'll join our conversation...

[[deleted user]]

Michael wrote: "Hi everyone. It is nice to meet all of you."

Hi, Michael, and welcome to Groodreads and the group. Join in anywhere!

[Christine]

Hi everyone,

many sci-fi readers believe that only men can write great novels but check out the women who do so with great results!
Christine E. Mackenzie

[[deleted user]]

Christine wrote: "Hi everyone"

Welcome to the group, Christine.

Speaking of great SciFi by women, we have C J Cherryh's award winning Cyteen coming up for our group book discussion next week. Stop in and join the conversation.

[[deleted user]]

Jenna wrote: "Hello everyone, my name is Jenna. I've always loved fantasy novels and looking to get into a little bit more sci-fi. I'm looking forward to reading and discussing here!"

Hi, Jenna, and welcome to the group. I look forward to discussing SF/F with you as well.

[Aurora]

Hi everyone!
I'm Aurora. SF&F is my favorite genre for light reading. This year I have become a self-published author in this area, so this group should be a good fit.

[Nerina]

Althus wrote: "Welcome Nerina! Enders is great, Alvin Maker series also good (same author as ender), What kind of fantasy do you read? It is always easier to recommend something when you know what way to turn you..."

Hi Althus and Old guy, ^^ thx. Well I don't really like fantasy stories like Twilight's kinda type. I think I am more to Kane's chronicle, Hunger game, all those kinda type that didn't really focus on the love plot. I am having hard time finding good book in my country since English books (as in not those that are translated to my own language) here are quite expensive and limited, so far I can keep up by reading the E-books. But I don't think I got all the best book just yet. I have tried reading The tiger chronicles before n I stopped half way coz i don't like the plot.

[Nerva]

I went looking and all of these have been translated into a few different languages and they are all great reads. Even if these specific books aren't translated into your language then maybe other books by the same author s are.

The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings By J.R.R. Tolkien, The Three Musketeers By Alexandre Dumas, The Belgariad and The Mallorean By David Eddings, The Chronicles of Narnia By C.S. Lewis, The Saga of Recluce By L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

[Hasty]

Hi.I'm Hasty.I'm really new to gr.I'm 13 years old and Ilove Sci-fi books alot and my favorite book is harry potter.
nice to meet all of you.