The Cool Kids' Fantasy Club discussion
General discussion
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Introductions
Hello,I'm Jess. I'm a Book Dragon.
I'm a librarian with a love for Mythology, Fantasy, Children books and down right shenanigans. Right now i'm currently making my way through several children fantasy series, the Black Company, Rogues of the Republic and Pratchett's Discworld Series.
Jessica wrote: "Hello,I'm Jess. I'm a Book Dragon.
I'm a librarian with a love for Mythology, Fantasy, Children books and down right shenanigans. Right now i'm currently making my way through several children f..."
Yesss :) STP is my ultimate favourite, have you read Monstrous Regiment yet? I think that's my favourite.
Ellie wrote: Yesss :) STP is my ultimate favourite, have you read Monstrous Regiment yet? I think that's my favourite. "Not yet. I've gotten through all of Tiffany Achings, Guards Guards and Mort. Want to read Men at Arms next.
Jessica wrote: "Ellie wrote: Yesss :) STP is my ultimate favourite, have you read Monstrous Regiment yet? I think that's my favourite. "Not yet. I've gotten through all of Tiffany Achings, Guards Guards and Mort..."
Ah ok, are you doing it by going through the character arcs? Good tactic! I loved the Tiffany ones, she is amazing. Granny is my ultimate role model :).
Hi Mark! Thank you for inviting me to this group.I've loved fantasy books since I first read Tamora Pierce's Wild Magic over twenty years ago and finally published my debut novel this year in April. My most recent obsession is Red Rising, my TBR is full of indie books and I'm always on the look out for more!
Hiya! I like to read and write fantasy. I grew up with an avid fantasy readers as a kid, so I started pretty young and it has been with me ever since. I remember reading Watt-Evans (I *loved* The Misenchanted Sword) and Eddings in grade school). In fact, my penalty chore as a kid was frequently "alphabetize the house".I got in trouble a lot.
I don't have a TBR after it hit three meters, so it is the top shelf of my bookcase. These days, I mostly focus on indie, POC, and queer writers but stick pretty firmly in the SFF categories.
I write stuff I want to see, which usually means less traditional Western influences, pacifists, engineers. My setting for this decade is based on the rise of the industrial age and the downfall of magic.
Hey Cool Kids,I am Vikas from New Delhi, India. I grew up reading comics and now continue to read and enjoy them still. I love reading Fiction, Fantasy, Autobiographies, Comics, and basically everything except for Self-Help books.
I am currently reading, Ashoka The Great, Magnus Chase and the Ship of the Dead, Some Very Dignified Disclosures and Ginger Snaps
Just started using TTS function of my e-book reader and it is proving to be a boon in reading the book when I am otherwise busy doing other work.
Hi from Belgium to you all,Joined the world of fantasy a long time ago when my dad lent me his copy of The Belgariad and I never looked back.
I just finished Ed McDonald's "Blackwing" and Nicholas Eames' "Kings of the Wyld" and pre-ordered book 2 of both series.
I'm revisiting the extended world of Valdemar in the meantime while I watch my TBR pile getting a bit higher every day.
(edited for typos, I do make a lot of these...)
Celyn wrote: "Hi from Belgium to you all,Joined the world of fantasy a long tiem ago when my dad lent me his copy of The Belgariad and I never looked back.
I just finished Ed McDonald's "Blackwing" and Nicholas..."
I meet so few Celyns that I had to say hi. When my brother and I were born, no one had really heard of Dylan and Celyn. That's change for Dylan but Celyn is still pretty rare around me.
I also love the Last Herald Mage.
D. wrote: "Celyn wrote: "Hi from Belgium to you all,Joined the world of fantasy a long tiem ago when my dad lent me his copy of The Belgariad and I never looked back.
I just finished Ed McDonald's "Blackwing..."
The official spelling of my name is Céline and it was the most popular name in my country the year I was born. It felt too common for teenage me so I started spelling it differently back then and never really stopped.
The Last Herald Mage is my favorite Valdemar trilogy. I'm reading them in chronological order this time so I'm in the company of the Black Gryphon right now.
Hello from Turkey and thanks for the invitation. This group will be another reason for me to spend more time on Goodreads. I wish everybody magical days and readings.
Mod
Joined the world of fantasy a long tiem ago when my dad lent me his copy of The Belgariad and I never looked back.
I just finished Ed McDonald's "Blackwing..."
My youngest daughter is a Celyn!
Mod
I've loved fantasy books since I first read Tamora Pierce's Wild Magic over twenty years ago and finally published my debut novel this year in Apr..."
Tamora Pierce blurbed my book last year. I'd never heard of her but found out that she is a huge fantasy name. I must read one of her books to my daughter soon.
Mod
Good to have you onboard! Goodreads is a great resource but it can be hard to chat here unless you join a group.
Hi, I'm Cora and I'm from the UK. I love reading fantasy books and it is my favourite type of genre to read. I really need to read more sci-fi books. I also have a massive love of reading a different variety of genres.
Tamora Pierce is an amazing fantasy writer for kids Mark. My eldest has all of her books. The Circle of Magic books are a good place to start or the Alanna books maybe. They are the first books in two different worlds. Lots of strong female leads.
Paul wrote: "Certainly attracting the membership anyway. This Mark fella is popular then ;-)"He's a'ight
Jacqueline wrote: "Tamora Pierce is an amazing fantasy writer for kids Mark. My eldest has all of her books. The Circle of Magic books are a good place to start or the Alanna books maybe. They are the first books in ..."Honestly Tamora Pierce is one of my all time favorite authors. Her Alanna series had a serious impact on why I like fantasy so much.
I'm Martin and I share an agent with Mr Lawrence.I have a couple of old-school sword and sorcery adventure books out Exile, Nandor and I'm currently writing something 'more epic'.
I read a wide range of fantasy, historical, SF and crime.
IRL I'm a drug designer
hello i from Venezuela thank you very much invitation
Hello there!My name is Liz and I love fantasy and science fiction. I'll sometimes read other genres of books, but find myself drawn to the realm of adventure, magic and space! I have aparticular weakness for fantasy books involving thieves, assassins and anti-heroes.
I am excited to find new books to add to my growing TBR pile and book hoard that is currently occupying an embarrassingly large amount of space in my bedroom.
Thanks for the invite Mark!
Hi, I'm Harveen. This is actually my first group on Goodreads and seems like a good place to start, so thank you for creating it and the invite, Mark.I am a big fan of fantasy and adventure novels. I also read some thrillers, horrors, historical fiction, comic books, and historical and political non-fiction.
Currently, I am making my way through the Witcher books and the Neil Gaiman books I've accumulated from a friend and those I've bought. I recently finished Good Omens and am now simultaneously reading Neverwhere and Sword of Destiny.
Book recommendations are welcome though I can't guarantee how quickly I'll get round to them considering the pile of 40 unread books I have on my shelves.
Hello! I am Katie, from Washington state, USA. I’m a great lover of all things fantasy, and got my start as a youngin’ with The Redwall series by Brian Jacques. From there I hopped into the world of Tolkien and have been a full fledged fantasy nerd since, enjoying all things fantasy including the occasional renaissance faire. I especially enjoy the Grim Dark sub-genre. I wrote lots of short stories throughout my school years, but haven’t had a lot of time to write until recently. I’ve been playing around with several ideas, writing outlines and such, and hope to someday become the author of my own tales.
Other than that I live on several acres with horses and chickens, dogs and cats, most of whom are rescues. One of my horses is a wild horse I rescued before being sent to slaughter across the border! I take great satisfaction in being an advocate for those who can’t speak for themselves, caring for them, loving them and getting their love in return. I also enjoy gardening, working out (although some might say farm work is enough in itself), and working on my current horse trailer restoration project.
Anyway, glad to be here!
-K
Hi all,I joined the group a couple of days ago but just now have the time to look around properly.
I'm Feli from Germany and I am sorry for my not so perfect English ;)
In my youth, I've read a lot of Fantasy but mostly from German authors and nowadays I am reading more horror stuff and try to catch up on some classics.
I realized I missed my fantasy books after reading more other genres and now I am trying to add more fantasy books again. I also started to read Mark's work and now I am happy to be here and meet new people and books :)
I’m Steve, and currently live in the southwest of England, in the beautiful city of Bath. I’ve just retired.I read a lot of science fiction when I was younger, and dabbled in some Fantasy. But since the GRRM books appeared, which I read as they became available, I’ve become a heavy reader of the modern style of Fantasy characterised by strong and realistic character development.
Anything from the gentler characters created by Robin Hobb and Josiah Bancroft through to the darker personalities in Grimdark books. As long as the characters are interesting, and outweigh magical backdrops.
I think we must be in some Golden Age of Fantasy writing as I seem to be accumulating well rated books, and recommended books by people like yourselves, to read faster than I can manage.
Mod
I read a lot of science fiction when I was younger, and dabbled in some Fantasy. But sin..."
Hi Steve! Thanks for guiding me to the Roman baths in Bath!
Mark wrote: "Steve wrote: "I’m Steve, and currently live in the southwest of England, in the beautiful city of Bath. I’ve just retired.I read a lot of science fiction when I was younger, and dabbled in some Fa..."
And I recall you helping boost the profits by drinking in the pub where I’m a shareholder in the co-op. Or didn’t I say about that?!
Hey everyone! I'm Abdul Basit from Pakistan.
I guess I am relatively new to the "love of reading". Originally I suppose reading didn't really captivate me what with movies and television.
The Wheel of Time was the what brought me to this beautiful new world. Each book was an adventure and the entire 15 book journey was simply beautiful.
After that I guess I developed this hunger, the experience of being lost in a book, there is nothing like it. Though I suppose I do prefer a complete series, I don't know how people bear the torture of waiting for the next book, I need Grey Sister so I can binge "The Book of The Ancestors".
Since then I have been devouring any fantasy series I can find and I have met so many great Authors. Mark has been a great help in helping me find various different Authors and books, what would I do without his reviews!
Whoops I mean Holy Sister, the third book. Already have Red Sister and Grey Sister. :P
Hi everyone and thanks Mark for the invite.I'm Jon and I'm a fantasy reader and author from New York.
I'm currently a hundred pages from the end of the last book in Robin Hobb's Rain Wild Chronicles (I've been tackling one Realm of the Elderlings series every year for the past four years, so I'm almost at the end!). Some of my favorite books include Neverwhere, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and the Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet.
I just released a novella that's a mash-up of Neverwhere, Harry Potter, and World of Warcraft, and I am planning on entering next year's SPFBO once I complete the second two parts of the story.
Hello all. Thank you for the invite and I promise not to be a dick. First though, thank you for allowing me to type that word. The nuns that relentlessly tormented me throughout high school are rolling over in their wimples right now. So, dick. I said it again. (Thank you Brittany Spears for the inspiration.) I love fantasy. I don't care what type, what genre or who wrote it. I like even the pulpy stuff that is self-published and never read by others. I started reading fantasy really young, and for the longest time I spoke to no-one who also liked fantasy. Mrs. Borders of Borders Bookstore fame was my English teacher and she was aghast.
My favorite book right now is not a fantasy novel at all -- it is the Map Thief, an engrossing real story of how an individual successfully entered esteemed libraries and simply cut out, rolled up, and absconded with priceless maps. Any fantasy reader would be aghast at this. He stole MAPS!
White Lotus, a little known book about non-violent protests against a dictatorship made a mark on me early in my life, that has never left. Red Sister was an absolute delight as I managed to forget at many points that it was a prequel. Or a early sequel. Or a GOT type spin off. Or some other iteration that did not matter as the book rocked.
Thanks for the invite and for letting me type dick three times.
Hi everyone, I'm Matthew. mark, thanks for accepting my request to join the group.I've been reading fantasy primarily since a friend at school introduced me to Terry Pratchett back in the mid-nineties, and LotR as well. Currently reading The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan and diving headfirst into The Wheel of Time...wish me luck!
Mod
Good to have someone on board with actual nun school experience! Did I do an accurate representation of the poison classes?
Not sure what you were saying about prequel/sequel & Red Sister?
Sorry I was not clear. I was trying poorly to say that I thought the book (and series). was so well written that it stood on its own, and could easily be read before or after the wheel series. My catholic school did not teach poisoning unfortunately. It would have been so much more interesting. Apple however did very much remind me of a very young and very fierce sister I had in 5th grade who was very focused on church reform.
Can’t say we had poison classes either. The first 11 years of my schooling consisted of being tortured by Nuns too. Maybe one of the other Orders were into that. Ours were Sisters of St Joseph in Australia. And most of them were Irish or of Irish extraction originally. Nothing scarier than a little Irish Nun in full flight.
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word—like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death—if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach." Sorry. I thought you said Potions class!
Good morning everyone!My name is Becky and I'm a nerd-generalist. I read a lot of nonfiction history, fantasy, scifi, and comic books. I review almost every book I read except for this year because I've been in grad school but I swear at some point I will sit my ass down and finish writing reviews for the books I've read this year.
I'm currently listening to The City Stained Red and reading an ARC of Foundryside. I just finished reading The Queen of Crows and listening The Singularity Trap. Big audiobook listening, its saved me while I'm in school!
If I'm not reading I'm either playing D&D or board games, painting minis, or possibly camping and rock climbing. Feel free to send me friend requests and look forward to seeing what everyone has to say!
Mod
My..."
I hope The Book of the Ancestor trilogy stands on its own :D
It's entirely unconnected with any of my previous books.
Sorry you got the wrong sort of nuns!
Ursula wrote: "Hi my name's Ursula, and I live in upstate New York. I got into reading from reading Tamora Pierce books when I was a preteen. That evolved into reading Meredith Ann Pierce's books, the Eragon book..."Who doesn't love sarcastic cats? ")
Hi, I'm Hélène from France. Mark, thanks for the invite. I've been reading SFF for forty years and my TBR pile is higher than the Everest ! I guess it won't go better after reading this group discussions... I'll be reading Master Assassins soon - thanks to Mark, again.
Hi I'm Tracey, originally from South Africa now live in north east England. Part time library volunteer, reader, and taekwon-do practitioner. I look forward to the group discussions!Thanks for the invite Mark!
I'm Tim. I live on the east coast of Australia (it's awesome here), and I read as often as I can, and write less than I should.
I just launched my own writing patreon for Short Stories that I'm particularly proud of, and I've worked in Radio for 5 years, as creative director for about 2 years, and I have a cavoodle called Leia that I love more than people. If I'm not reading or writing, i'm world building for my dnd campaigns, or annoying my friends with bad jokes.
I just launched my own writing patreon for Short Stories that I'm particularly proud of, and I've worked in Radio for 5 years, as creative director for about 2 years, and I have a cavoodle called Leia that I love more than people. If I'm not reading or writing, i'm world building for my dnd campaigns, or annoying my friends with bad jokes.
Mod
I've been reading SFF for forty years and my TBR pile is higher than the Everest ! I guess it won't go better after reading this group disc..."
Master Assassins is a fine choice! I'm glad someone out there was listening.
Hello, I'm Flor. I'm a fledgeling writer. Of sorts. I'm also deeply afflicted by a deficiency of books to read.
Thanks for the invite Mark!
Howdy! I read just about anything, but usually stick to fantasy, sci fi, and horror. My goal is to get Mr. Mark Lawrence to read my book so I can stop eating cat food.
Late intro as I'm not on here much. I've been reading lots of sci-fi and fantasy for the past few years. Growing up I loved it, but once we got to reading our "assigned stuff" in high school and college it became a chore. I read a lot of scholarly articles and books which were really enjoyable in later college years and grad school for philosophy, and I still enjoy them, but escaping into well-written worlds with captivating characters always gets me, and more and more I'm finding that escape is exactly what I need. Also Mark is a great writer so how could I say no to this group?!
Sorry for the late intro everyone. Being a full time emergency/trauma nurse in a level 1 trauma center and having a toddler (and another on the way) doesn't leave me much time to be on here. I have always been an avid F/SF/Magical Realism reader and am attempting to write my own trilogy right now. Currently I'm jumping between Mark Lawrence (our Overlord), Michael Sullivan, and Robin Hobb (someone I missed out on previously). I'm also going through a few series my son: The Time Quintet, The Dark is Rising, and The Chronicles of Prydain. If anyone has any suggestions let me know and hopefully I'll be more of presence on here.
Finally: Read Brandon Sanderson!
Mod
That's Dr Mark Lawrence :D
& typically the number of extra sales a glowing review from me will earn a book is not enough for very much cat food!
The Cool Kids' Fantasy Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Master Assassins (other topics)The City Stained Red (other topics)
The Singularity Trap (other topics)
Foundryside (other topics)
The Queen of Crows (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Brian Staveley (other topics)Snorri Kristjansson (other topics)
Anthony Ryan (other topics)
John Christopher (other topics)
Tanith Lee (other topics)
I have found that as I've gotten older and written more, my reading speed has slowed. It's really hard to turn off the 'edit this' function in my brain..."
Hello!
That is reassuring, I feel I lack the skill to write a decent (or any) review so I just haven't. But if writers find reviews as simple as 'I liked it' acceptable, that's more in line with my capabilities and I might start 😂 :).