The Cool Kids' Fantasy Club discussion
General discussion
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Introductions
Hello,I am from India.
For the past three years I have bought Dr. Mark Lawrence's books as a birthday gift for myself :P
This year though I have not finished Red Sister because I can't read in my commute anymore because of a neck spasm. :(
I am contemplating buying the audible version also. But in Audible I sometimes miss some sentences and just go on if I can keep up with the story. But Mark's books have to be cherished word by word. HAAAALP SOMEONE. I NEED MY MARK LAWRENCE FIX!
Mod
I am from India.
For the past three years I have bought Dr. Mark Lawrence's books as a birthday gift for myself :P
This year though I have not finished Red Sister because I can't read in m..."
Good to have you in the group! I don't enjoy audio books myself - my mind wanders and the words don't have the same impact as if I read them. But many readers love audiobooks and the US edition of the Red Sister audiobook was shortlisted for an award, so the narrator must be good!
I hope your neck gets better soon.
Mark wrote: Good to have you in the group! I don't enjoy audio books myself - my mind wanders and the words don't have the same impact as if I read them. But many readers love audiobooks and the US edition of the Red Sister audiobook was shortlisted for an award, so the narrator must be good!I hope your neck gets better soon.
This is also true for me. My mind wanders and I only listen to light books where prose is unimportant and structure is all I need. But With Red Sister(I was prologue and Chapter 1 done), I know it is very much your prose which I don't want to miss. I sampled the audiobook and I have to say it was very very good. It was immediately captivating like Tim Gerard Reynolds' narrations. I almost feel like taking a week off and just reading.
I do hope my neck heals soon. Thanks :) And hey thanks for your books! :)
I have the same problem just listening to audio books but I discovered reading and listening is very enjoyable.
I used to have trouble concentrating on audiobooks then I started listening to them while I was cleaning, cooking and driving. I’d rather actually read a book but the 6-8 hour drives I regularly do go much quicker when I have someone reading to me.
Jacqueline wrote: "I used to have trouble concentrating on audiobooks then I started listening to them while I was cleaning, cooking and driving. I’d rather actually read a book but the 6-8 hour drives I regularly do..."I agree, I started the audiobooks to make my treadmill time bearable.
Mod
I definitely understand how they appeal to car commuters.
Hey! I’m Will, an accountant up near Boston. I’m a big fan of fantasy books, and ML’s Broken Empire is one of my best remembered series. I actually even reread the King of Thorns, which I almost never do.Between work and life in general, my time is pretty meager, but I’m slowly eking out a book. Hopefully the first draft will be done this December. I’d love to get to know some of the other aspiring writers here, and maybe create some kind of space where we could put down our drafts for criticism.
I’m always open for some good book recommendations, but I generally have a pretty full slate. Mark was able to rearrange it, though, with his review of the Vagrant, so it’s possible to change my mind.
But that’s about it. Looking forward to getting to know you guys. Have a wicked nice day!
I was reading an interview with Owen King a couple of weeks ago. When he was young his Dad, Stephen, tossed him a book and tapes and asked him to record the book. $9 a tape. 10 tapes later he was finished. He did that a lot apparently. Listened to audiobooks made by his kids. He also gave them books read by him for birthdays and that. It would be nice to be read to by a loved one when you’re all alone wouldn’t it.
Mod
Good to hear I have some influence :)
Senlin's Ascent
Master Assassins
The Grey Bastards
& Blackwing
all very different, fine reads
Jacqueline wrote: "I was reading an interview with Owen King a couple of weeks ago. When he was young his Dad, Stephen, tossed him a book and tapes and asked him to record the book. $9 a tape. 10 tapes later he was f..."That really is a wonderful idea.
Mod
Hi, everyone! Thanks for the invitation, Mark!I'm a Science Fiction and Fantasy writer. This past year, I've been hunkered down writing while, sadly, falling way behind in my humongous To Be Read pile. I published three novels this past year, wrote several short stories and am currently writing another novel. What I'm happy about in my writing life right now: My Science Fiction novel is on the reading list for this year's Nebula Awards, one of my book covers in Mark's Self-Publishing Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) made semi-finalist (all credit for this goes to the book cover artist) and one of my favorite bestselling authors has accepted two of my short stories for anthologies she's organizing.
I recently took a few days off to tackle my TBR pile. I read Mark's Prince of Thorns which was absolutely amazing. I also read The Flicker of Old Dreams by Susan Henderson which was also amazing. My reviews: Prince of Thorns and The Flicker of Old Dreams. I'm currently reading two more wonderful books: The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu and Ruthless Magic (another book in this year's SPFBO) by Megan Crewe.
Hi, I'm Eric and I'm from Pennsylvania. I learned about the group from Mark's twitter feed and thought I'd stop in and hang out with the cool kids. I went through many years where I ignored books in favor of computer games and such. But this year I decided to change things up and get back into reading. Now I've got so many fascinating worlds to rediscover. I read mainly fantasy/sci-fi with the occasional historical fiction (I love me some Bernard Cornwell).
Mod
I went through many years where I ignored books..."
Good to have you aboard, Eric! I know 40+ people joined in the past 24 hours but clearly they are lurking until they know it's safe to say hi.
Greetings. I'm Dave from Tampa and I'm a book-a-holic. Mr. Lawrence tweeted a call to arms and I've answered.
Mod
Well done on answering the call to arms ... or books ... welcome Sir Dave of Tampa.
Greetings folks. The name is Gregoire, Ian Gregoire―a lifelong reader and writer of speculative fiction. As much as I’d like to say that I’m best known for being the author of The Exercise Of Vital Powers, an SPFBO semi-finalist last year, the truth is I’m probably better known for being related to a member of the Red Dwarf cast, and appearing in a Cliff Richard music video.I’m always open to friend requests, book recommendations, and group invitations.
I'm new here too after seeing Mark's tweet about the group. I mostly just use Goodreads to keep track of books not so much the social part. And I'm bad at leaving reviews. But I'm here now so that's something. Also just saw Ian Gregoire posted above me. The Exercise of Vital Powers is great book and you should all read it (maybe that makes up for not leaving an actual review when I read it last year).
Mod
Coo! Which member? Which video?
& welcome :)
Mod
Good to have you on board!
You rate and review all my books though ... right? Right?
Justin wrote: "Also just saw Ian Gregoire posted above me. The Exercise of Vital Powers is great book and you should all read it (maybe that makes up for not leaving an actual review when I read it last year). ."Because of this and Ian Gregoire's post I have just added The Exercise of Vital Powers to my TBR pile.
Mark wrote: "Coo! Which member? Which video?& welcome :)"
Danny John-Jules is the Red Dwarf cast member I’m related to; we are cousins. And the 9 year old me had a “blink and you’ll miss it” cameo in the music video for Living Doll by Cliff Richard. Me and my friends get chased out of a men’s public toilet into the women’s toilet by the Young Ones. 😄
Pat wrote: "Because of this and Ian Gregoire's post I have just added The Exercise of Vital Powers to my TBR pile."Thank you, Pat. I feel honoured. 😊
Cool Ian 😎 He’s brilliant as Cat but I love him as Dwayne in Death in Paradise too. I’ll look out for you when I next see the clip.
Ian wrote: "Pat wrote: "Because of this and Ian Gregoire's post I have just added The Exercise of Vital Powers to my TBR pile."Thank you, Pat. I feel honoured. 😊"
You're welcome! Goodness knows how long it will take me to get around to reading it - I'm being incredibly slow with my reading this year!
Mod
& welcome :)"
Danny John-Jules is the Red Dwarf cast member I’m related to; we are cousins. And the 9 year old me had a “blink and you’ll miss it” cam..."
Cool beans! Danny John-Jules was in the news yesterday because he is in the BBC's ballroom dance thing ... Strictly ... something.
Mod
Thank you, Pat. I feel honoured. 😊"
You're welcome! Goodness knows ..."
A nice video review here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1K6y...
I'm Marisa, UK, lover of Sci fi and Fantasy! I've come back to reading after years of living through characters in video games. Living through the pages is just as exciting. I'm not quite sure what to do in groups, but I'm here, so I'll just curl up on the group sofa with a tea and a good book. Also very excited to be in a group with Mark, I've only recently discovered the Broken Empire series, and have become so enthralled I bought King Of Thorns before I finished Prince Of Thorns.
Very excited to talk to other readers and authors! Although I'll probably just look on with enthusiasm, about to type something, then backspace rapidly.
Marisa wrote: "I'm Marisa, UK, lover of Sci fi and Fantasy! I've come back to reading after years of living through characters in video games. Living through the pages is just as exciting. I'm not quite sure what..."Greetings, Marisa. Congratulations on becoming one of the Cool Kids. 😃
Mod
Good to have you aboard, Marisa!
I hope King of Thorns lives up to expectations.
Mod
Thanks for the invite Mark!"
Hi Flor! Most of us are in danger of being crushed to death by the tower of books we want to read. You must be very picky? What sort do you like?
Hi, I'm Molly, as you can clearly see. I online-met Mark at westeros.org, and now I'm going to have to guilt-read Prince of Thorns. My favorite book is Blood Meridian. My favorite book-adjacent activity is complaining about SFF.
Molly wrote: "Hi, I'm Molly, as you can clearly see. I online-met Mark at westeros.org, and now I'm going to have to guilt-read Prince of Thorns. My favorite book is Blood Meridian. My favorite book-adjacent a..."
Hello, Molly. You’re officially a Cool Kid now. 👋 😄
Hello!First of all – thanks for invitation!
I`m Nadya from Bulgaria (but I`m Russian) and I read almost everything (even books I don`t like, because I`m making eBooks for one of the largest (ore may be the only one) e-libraries in Bulgaria – chitanka.info – hobby).
For pleasure I like to read fantasy and horror books, authors such as: Mark Lawrence, Peter V. Brett, Joe Abercrombie, Dmitry Glukhovsky, Sergei Lukyanenko and many more (also a lot of really good Bulgarian writers, but they are not translated into other languages); Clive Barker, Jack Ketchum…
My name is Gryffin, and I’m 18 years old and Canadian. I’m an aspiring writer and avid reader. I found this group on my own just because I wanted to connect with other readers who like the same genre as me. I love dark high fantasy, large casts of characters and interesting magic systems. I read both adult and YA although I prefer adult. Some of my favourite authors are Brandon Sanderson Jay kristoff and V. E schwab. Books and writing are probably two of my biggest passions and I hope I can find people to share those with.
Hey everyone, name's Dan and I have a reading problem; the problem being, that I'm not reading right now. But, I'm talking about reading, so there's that.I read a lot of fantasy and some sci-fi. I'm big into Mark Lawrence right now, savoring the end of Grey Sister (Mark, if you don't mind doing me a solid, could you finish up, publish, market and release Holy Sister by next week?) ;)
So I'm a 42-year old dental IT integrator, so you can see why I need to escape into fantasy land for as much as humanly possible! Although, if you're going to work with the medical profession, dentists are generally pretty mellow.
I'm trying to convince myself to re-read the entirety of Robin Hobb's work, as I haven't yet read the latest trilogy. I read the others when they came out, and I was a lot more YA in my tastes back then. I have no real memory of the books. So, I'm wondering if I'm a bit old for them.
My favorite authors: NK Jemisin, Dr. Marky-Mark Lawrence, and any other well written fantasy author who isn't afraid to get a little dark to spin a good yarn. A few one-off books from various SF authors have blown me away recently (Children of Time, anyone?)
Having fun looking through these forums
Welcome aboard, Nadya, Gryffin, and Dan. 👋
Hi all,I'm Mitriel (also known as Agnes). I love great stories and fine prose. I run this fansite https://thatthornguy.com/, and also have a small, personal blog: https://mitriel.com/, where I sometimes post about writing, beta-reading, talk about books I enjoyed and events I visited.
I write, too, when I can, and I'm currently working on my first book.
Oh, and I also have a Facebook group I recently started, that focuses on the more literary works of fantasy: https://www.facebook.com/groups/67743..., come and visit if that's your cup of tea.
Mitriel wrote: "Hi all,I'm Mitriel (also known as Agnes). I love great stories and fine prose. I run this fansite https://thatthornguy.com/, and also have a small, personal blog: https://mitriel.com/, where I so..."
Hi Agnes
It’ll be great to have you advising us on here. I’ve got a lot from reading the fan site, and the Facebook Fantasy site you set up.
Steve wrote: "Mitriel wrote: "Hi all,I'm Mitriel (also known as Agnes). I love great stories and fine prose. I run this fansite https://thatthornguy.com/, and also have a small, personal blog: https://mitriel...."
Thanks, Steve, that's very kind. I'm always happy to help if I can and have the time. :)
Mitriel wrote: "Hi all,I'm Mitriel (also known as Agnes). I love great stories and fine prose. I run this fansite https://thatthornguy.com/, and also have a small, personal blog: https://mitriel.com/, where I so..."
Hi Mitriel,
I thought you might get a kick out this, but it was from one of your flash fiction writing contests that I just sign a 3 book deal with Tor. I couldn't keep it within the word count so failed to qualify, but what I wrote inspired an entire series.
Brian wrote: "Mitriel wrote: "Hi all,I'm Mitriel (also known as Agnes). I love great stories and fine prose. I run this fansite https://thatthornguy.com/, and also have a small, personal blog: https://mitriel...."
Oh, that's so great to hear! I just looked up your story, Departure and our conversation. I always felt I got lucky in the fantasy community and wanted to give something back, hence the whole website and those writing contests. But seriously, those competitions were so much work for me and caused so many problems and annoyance, it's actually fantastic to learn that something so positive came out of them. Thank you and wishing you all the best in the future! :)
Greetings!!!! ... FirsT! Thank you so much for the invite; I absolutely love your style of writing, and after the "3 billy goats" rage, it was because of you that justice was finally survived in such a wondrous way ^_^ I look forward to talking more about books and gods knows what else with like minds :D really appreciate it!1
Mod
That's pretty cool!
Mark wrote: "Cindy wrote: "Hello! I’m Cindy, I’m Belgian but live in the UK and Australia. I’m currently starting the last year of my PhD (genetics). I’ve been an avid reader for as long as I can remember, most..."Totally missed this message back in June, but always welcome to send me DNA questions ;-) I curious to read the DNA testing stuff in the new books!!
Hi, I am Sunny Kapoor, from Kolkata, India.I am a designer and entreprenuer. I have written books before but I am rebooting my career with a series of Children's books called The Jungle Heroes. https://www.thejungleheroes.com
By this week 6 ebooks will be launched, the proof is getting ready for the printed book, and the next 30 books in the series are being edited and designed.
I have a Kindle Unlimited subscription and I keep reading books on spirituality, comics, entrepreneurship, startups, crypto, and designing.
Hi all, I am Eric Brown. Apparently, web AI often confuses me with the late great U.K. author of the same name. I wish I had met him.
As for me, I have published primarily in the non-fiction business genre, but my creative juices have me outlining a SFF series that I hope to publish the first three books in the next couple years. Yeh, I know - it seems far out, but I am trying to finish two other projects.
Looking forward to hanging out with the "cool kids" and learning from you all.
Cheers,
-EB
Hi everybody.I am just a fellow adventurer on a quest to find amazing books. I am reading Dune for the fact now. I have read Lotr and Hp and I wanted to find more about these fantasy books. So I got in the "cool kids" thing. I wish I could find amazing books for my quest.
Thanks
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