Introduction and welcome thread! Showing 651-700 of 4,412

[Linguana]

Trike wrote:
Jeez, you sprechen zee English better than I, a native speaker, do. I both admire and hate you. :p

Anyway, welcome, and if you liked Starship Troopers, I'd recommend The Forever War by Joe Haldeman and The Old Man's War by John Scalzi, for slightly different takes on that basic story. Many people rave about John Steakley's Armor, but I found it to be too much of a copy of Haldeman's work with worse writing.

Thank you. :) To be fair, you start learning English at a very young age in Austria (I think I was eight).

I actually have Old Man's War on audiobook and started listening to it but then it turned out to be so good, I wanted to read it in paper form. I'm weird like that. Gotta feel the pages.
I'll definitely look into your other recommendations. I'm very happy to have someone to sort out the rubbish for me and send me straight to the great ones. :)

[Duncan]

Hi I'm Duncan. I am a video game developer and an avid scifi/fantasy fan. I've read every book since I joined the group about a year ago, but I rarely visit the forum since I'm usually behind and I don't want any spoilers. But I thought I'd start participating in the polls, so here I am.

Duncan

[John]

Hello, I am John and have been enjoying the podcast for about a year. I finally joined the group.

[Kendrick]

Hey everybody.
I just recently started searching out podcasts/groups and am super stoked to start listening.

[Jason]

Hello all,

Jason here. Standard Nerd. Huge fan of the Sci-fi and fantasy self-publish work happening on Kindle, looking forward to discovering more hidden gems.

Found the podcast thanks to Veronica being on the Nerdist. Enjoying it so far.

[Al]

Hello everyone,

Just started listening about six months ago, decided to make the leap and join the forum. Just finished Ready Player One and am looking forward to Reamde, as a big Stephenson fan.

[Isaiah]

Hi! I've been listening to your podcast for about a year now, and been enjoying it immensely. Thanks for podcasting, and talking about cool books. Keep it up, you guys rock!

[Roman]

Greetings, The Sword Guild and Laser Squad!

I've been listening to the podcast on and off for couple of years,
but have been following Tom's and Veronica's crafts since their CNET days. I've also been using Goodreads for a while, but never got around joining the party here on the forums.

I'm more of a sci-fi guy, haven't gotten into fantasy yet, but I have couple of books in mind that people tout as a gateway drug to the addictive fantasy world.

My favourite sci-fi authors: Neal Stephenson, Ian Banks, Peter F. Hamilton, Cory Doctorow and Daniel Suarez. I'm sure I'm forgetting someone.

You have to start reading Ian Banks! His Culture universe is immensely vast (as universes usually are) and very well though out. I'll pitch it in the right thread, probably someone has already. I digress.

I'm doing NaNoWriMo as well and failing miserably.

[Robert]

hi my name is Robert,
I have followed the podcast for a few months, you guys are great.
That being said, I prefer sci-fi over fantasy but am not opposed to fantasy. It is nice to use the podcast and the club as a resource to find new things to read ... so thanks and keep up the good work

[Sarah]

Hello there I'm Sarah. I heard about this from Veronica Belmont's Google + feed and I've been listening to the podcast for a while. I live in Canada and, although I don't have enough to read as much as I'd like, I love to listen to audible books.

My favorite childhood authors include Bruce Coville and Monica Hughes and The Secret World of Og by Pierre Berton. My favorite science fiction and fantasy writers at the moment include, of course, George R.R. Martin, Margaret Atwood, Ursula Le Guin, Ray Bradbury, Neil Gaiman, and of course many more.

I just finished the audible of The Magician King and The Magicians by Lev Grossman and I loved them both and I am currently working away at 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.

[Mary]

Hi, my name is Mary. I've been listening to the podcast sporadically for a while, and I finally have time to read along.
I recently read Reamde, and just finished up Ganymede by Cherie Priest, and am currently reading too many comic books. Or not enough, depending on the moment.

[Ed]

Hello peeps, I'm Ed.

I just listened to the podcast after hearing about it on your Nerdist episode. I will go through some of the back episodes as I have a long commute behind the wheel and podcasts are what make it bearable. Currently call NY home. I am interested in NaNiWriMo and your book club readings. Added bonus would be making some friends.

[Soragon]

Hey guys. The name's Michel.
I heard about S&L on TWiT, a few years ago I think. Never got the time to check it out. Now I'm at uni I have more time to read during the holidays and even listening to audiobooks while I'm studying.

My love for fantasy and scifi started with Star Wars and Harry Potter during my pre-teen years. I'm a big believer in the fact that the former is more fantasy than the latter, which people always refuse to even consider since Star Wars "has spaceships".

I also loved Eragon and read each book with increasing adoration as they came out. I only realised recently how much of a blatant rip-off the first (and to an extent; the second) are of Star Wars, but then again, maybe that's why I enjoy them so much. I just finished reading Inheritance (the last in the series that came out 3 days ago) and while it wasn't exactly hard I'm proud to boast and say that I predicted nearly everything that happened in the book except one major thing and another little plot twist. In avoiding the clichés of happy endings, Paolini, in my opinion, totally screwed it up and ended the series on a rather very depressing note.

Aaaand this has turned into something much more of an introduction.
If any of you are on the Twitters, @reply me. I'm @soragon.

[JP]

I've been around for some time now but never got a proper shoutout on the podcast. :) I'm the fool who called Veronica as Victoria.

[Justyna]

Hi, I'm Justyna from Poland.
I'm in love of Sci-fi and fantasy books for more than 20 years.
I've found your podcast around 2 month ago and I really like it - every show is just great.
Few words about me - I love reading, playing in RPG games and terrible movies.

[Chip]

Hi. I'm Chip. I just finished reading "A Wise Man's Fear" and I'm looking forward to going with some of the recommendations here.

[Davis]

Hi, I'm Davis from the Internet and I've been around a while. I'm not really a sword or a laser, per se. I like my sci fi and my fantasy with the lines blurred, like in Anachronauts: The First Age or The First Book of Swords. I guess I'm a beam sword then?

Also. I found this podcast because Veronica is awesome.

[Austin]

Hello, my name is Austin. I have known about Sword & Laser for quite awhile, just have never joined or listened. I love reading, last year I probably bought somewhere around 20 books but just never gave myself time to read any of them. That's was my problem. My fiancé bought me a kindle for my birthday after falling in love with one I got for her last Christmas. I notice for some reason I finished the last book I read, Boneshaker, quite quickly. So I'm hoping the kindle will help get my reading, that always want to do, accomplished.

I don't want this to get to long so I'll wrap up. I've been a big geek all my life. (I have the rebel alliance insignia tattooed on my arm) So naturally I love sci-fi and fantasy books, although I normally lean more toward the sci-fi side. I joined this group to follow along with the great books that y'all choose, because there's nothing better than a great book recommendation, and discuss them with everyone.

Thank you and good bye.

[Mitch]

Hi!

I've been listening to the podcast for a while and started to read along with The Hunger Games. I'm a fan of Douglas Adams and The Discworld books.

I'm currently looking for a good steampunk read. Any ideas?

[Melissa]

Hi. I go by "Beelissa" in the BOL and Twit chatrooms, when I have time to, and I'm a bit of a Tom Merritt groupie. I've been lurking here for a while but mostly not participating or even reading. I couldn't get Ready Player One from my library (when I finally decided to try and follow along) and I checked out Reamde but had to return it before I hardly got going. I do own Jonathan Strange so I voted for that, though I've tried twice to start it and got bogged down.

About me: I was a geek before it was fashionable so I tried to hide it. Therefore I didn't read a lot of the books many of you seem to be familiar with. I'm a freelance writer and mother of 2 geek boys (well, one of them had the audacity to turn into a full-grown man when I wasn't looking). I'm looking forward to participating a little more here.

[Brian]

Greetings. My name's Brian. Another person finding their way here from Nerdist. I read all sorts of books, but a majority of which fall into the SciFi and Fantasy categories. Big fan of P. K. Dick, Asimov, Tolkien, Gaiman, and Janny Wurts. I just finished Theodore Rex (not SciFi or Fantasy, although such a book starring Theodore Roosevelt would be pretty amazing) and about halfway through A Storm of Swords. It's the first time in a while I'm only reading one book and it's pretty nice.

[Eric]

Hi everybody I'm Eric A.

Just got into your podcast which brought me here. I'm currently reading The Magicians and The Night Eternal. Have a good one people.

[Ryan]

Lo All, Ryan Here. Found the podcast via The Nerdist via WTF Podcast. I like High Fantasy and Hard Science Fiction. Iain M. Banks, Glen Cook, Gene Wolfe, Stephen Brust, Vernor Vinge, Peter F. Hamilton, Rothfuss, Mignola and Stephen Erickson to name a few.

[Lexy]

Hi, I'm Lexy.

I've been a fan of light science fiction and high fantasy. Some of my inspirations have come from Anne McCaffery, Stephen Brust, Terry Brooks, Elfquest, and assorted American comics and Japanese Anime. I was a geek girl before being a geek was a compliment and geekness was unheard of in a girl.

I'm not only an avid reader, but I'm also a prolific writer.

[Martin]

Hello. Long time listener and lurker first time poster.
My name is Martin and I'm a thirtysomething from Oslo Norway. Apart from Sword and Laser fiction I'm heavily into the "Graphic Novel"-format, which is a even more pretentious way of saying "Yes I read comic books, but they're Neil Gaiman-comic books".

I also had the honor of having my answer read on the podcast when you were talking about which order to read Terry Pratchett's Discworld.

I can't commit to reading along every time as I have two kids under 5 years of age, but I'll be listening to the podcast anyway and I might even utter an opinion on something here in the forum. :)

-m

[woo]

hey guys, my name's Joey. I haven't been a part of goodreads for very long as I haven't been an avid reader until about the last year, but once I became really invested in ASOIAF, I started to want reflection and opinions on the story. Luckily I watch TWIT every week and heard about Sword & Laser(pointer)!

My usual podcast time has been eaten up by audiobooks, but now that I've finished A Dance with Dragons, I'm kind of desperate to hear the input of others and discuss. Much to my delight this group was mentioned when I was checking out the ADWD episodes because now I have the opportunity to interact (with awesome hosts and fans) instead of just listening passively. I participate in other forums, but don't have anything centered around any of this so this looks perfect!

(Thanks Tom and Veronica!)

[Fiona]

Hi I'm Fiona,

I'm a scientist and book lover. I joined after hearing Veronica on the Nerdist Podcast.

I'm a big fan of Brent Weeks, Steven Erickson and Guy Gavriel Kay. I'll have to work on my love of lasers.

[Lee]

Hi, I'm newish to Goodreads, and new to this forum, but I imagine I'll be spending some time here.

I'm a writer in eastern Canada with dreams of literary glory, but I have a super sweet tooth for SF. I love Dan Simmons and Charles Stross primarily, so I guess Singularity fiction. Currently am reading Surface Detail by Iain M. Banks, working my way through Neil Asher's books, Scalzi's books, Vernor Vinge, Jack Mcdevitt, and anxiously awaiting anything new by Terry Pratchett.

[Nicholas]

Hello, I was recommended to GoodReads and this group by Mitch. I'm and artist and my innate need for creativity and imagination draws me to Fantasy/Sci-Fi like a moth to flame. I haven't delved as deeply as I would like into the fantasy pool, and I'm hoping to broaden my horizons with some help from you good folks.

[Suhail]

Hi everyone, my name is Suhail and I recently discovered the wonderful Sword and Laser podcast and group and decided to join. I am a casual reader of many genres but SF/Fantasy is probably my favorite. The last book I read was "A Dance With Dragons" back when it came out and have been in a rut when it comes to reading lately. I heard about this podcast via the FrogPants Network and decided it would be a good way to get back in the world of books.

I am from the US but currently work and reside in New Delhi, India. I've noticed that SFF isn't that popular here but slowly gaining ground due to Harry Potter fever. However, India has a lot of popular books available and most of the people I know here just gobble books up. E-readers haven't yet broken ground so bookshops are full of people and there are so many you can just walk down a street and a street vendor will have all types of popular books available.

Looking forward to participating in this group. Not sure if want to catch up on all the books that have been completed (otherwise it will take me forever), so I'll probably start with the next one in line.

Thanks so much for getting me back into books again.

- Suhail

[Joe]

Hey all,
My name is JOE and I am a scifi/fantasy geek. I discovered S&L podcast a month or so ago, but listened to Tom's other podcasts for months before that. I hold him personally responsible for my delay in getting here due to his lack of relentless self-promotion. :)

My first book in 4th grade was The Hobbit, and I have been reading scifi and fantasy ever since. I most recently read Ready Player 1 and have Reamde ready for a flight to Hawaii this weekend.

I'm excited to join the conversation.

[Chris]

Hi all, my name is Chris. Im 36 and have been reading sf and fantasy all my life but since I was about 15 ive had nobody to talk with about my favourite reads. None of my friends are into the stuff I am, and so after listening to a few podcasts I realised I needed to be with my kind of people. My top authors, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams.

[David]

Hi everyone
my name is David I have been reader for almost 40 years SF and Fantasy are my favorites but I also like mysteries some horror and historical fiction.Favorite authors too many to list. But lately I like Jim Butcher, Neil Sephenson, Brandon Sanderson and Kim Harrison oh and I loved The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. I used to watch TechTV then I discovered that some of the people have moved to Techzilla. There Patrick mentioned the pod cast and I went back and listening starting at #68. this is going to be a good place to find new books to read I have ready finished Reamde and Ready Player One and Flashforward and the Moon is a Harsh Mistress (a favorite) and I plan on going back and reading the rest of the reads and hopefully having some interesting discussions.

[Phil]

Hello, my name is Phil, and I've been hanging around here for ages, but never got around to introducing myself. I was a member of the old S&L over on Ning.com, and followed the group when it migrated over to Goodreads.

I've been a geek since a very early age, the seeds planted well before I even first went to school. Fantastic tales of spaceships, alien worlds and dinosaurs had hooked me even at that early age.

My tastes are skewed almost totally in favour of laser, mostly the harder forms, particularly the New Space Opera sub-genre and hard SF in general, as well as space opera, alternate histories, and anything to do with time travel and temporal paradoxes. A big guilty pleasure of mine is a great love of the old SF pulps of the Golden Age and pre-Golden Age period. I have a huge number of anthologies of stories from the pulps.

I'm afraid the modern mainstream, "Tolkeinesque" form of fantasy does absolutely NOTHING for me. Tales of princesses, wizards, quests, elves, goblins and all that kind of thing bore me completely to death. I'd rather watch paint dry. :)

It must've been all those stories of aliens, spaceships and dinosaurs that I read when I was a young kid. I don't think I EVER had any interest in fairy tales, even at that young age.

That said, all is not totally lost for me in the swords department. I do quite like sword & sorcery, and I'm a HUGE fan of REH, particularly Conan and Kull. I'm also a big fan of many of the older forms (pre-1960's) of classic "non-swords" YA fantasy, particularly those based on British and Irish mythology and folk tales.

My favourite modern authors would include Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter, Peter F. Hamilton, Linda Nagata, Greg Egan, Robert Reed, Ken MacLeod, Iain M. Banks, Greg Bear, Wil McCarthy, Vernor Vinge, Dan Simmons and a few others from the harder end of the SF spectrum.

Favourite older authors would include H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, Arthur C. Clarke, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, Brian Aldiss, Theodore Sturgeon, Alfred Bester, Frederik Pohl, Cyril Kornbluth, John W. Campbell (particularly his "Don A. Stuart" stories), Stanley Weinbaum, Henry Kuttner, C.L. Moore, Leigh Brackett, Edmond Hamilton and a few others that don't come to mind right now.

Aside from SF, I don't read any other forms of fiction. It just doesn't interest me in the slightest. If I exclude SF, my reading is almost totally factual - science (mostly palaeontology, astronomy/astrophysics/cosmology and space exploration), history, biographies, computers and web design, DTP and graphics, and quite a few other subjects.

I'm also a huge fan of comics and graphic novels, so there's never any shortage of anything to read in my house. :)

[Brandon]

I'm Brandon K-13 and I've never been much of a reader. At least until I found out that I really enjoy Utopian/Dystopian Sci-Fi. The Hunger Games became one of my favorite books and I wouldn't have found it if it wasn't for S&L. I'm hoping the podcast will open up more works that I will enjoy and I hope I can really get in to this medium.

[Michal]

Greetings, comrades! Michal here. *Salutes*

I'm a very obscure Yukon sf writer person and I've been listening to Sword and Laser for the past week or so at work and thought it was totally awesome, so why not join. Also a squealing Gene Wolfe, Charles de Lint, Guy Gavriel Kay and Ellen Kushner fanboy. And I'm big into Robert E. Howard, Lord Dunsany and the like if we're gonna add dead authors to the list.

[Kim]

I really enjoyed your "Nerdist" podcast Veronica so I downloaded Sword and Laser #81 to check it out. I loved it and I am so glad that I did! I have wanted to join a book club/reading group that had similar interests/inclinations.

I have been an avid reader since I was a child. While I will read most any book, I tend to read a majority of sci-fi/fantasy and I am always looking for someone new to read. After listening to just one podcast I was excited about several of the books you previewed. So thanks!

[Tora]

I follow Tasha Robinson on LiveJournal, and saw she was on FourCast so went and watched it. I enjoyed it so much I then watched several more episodes of FourCast over the next few days, and eventually checked out frogpants.com, where the first thing I spotted was Sword and Laser. Listened to the latest podcast and then looked at the archives; saw an interview with Tad Williams and said, "I must listen to this immediately!" and did. And then I came here to Goodreads and saw the post of the video of Neil Gaiman and Connie Willis, and said, "I must watch this immediately! And then join this group." So I did, and I did. Hi!

I just fired up the Kindle and downloaded Elantris and am looking forward to starting it as soon as I finish one of the many books I'm currently reading...oh who am I kidding? When has the fact that I'm in the middle of 10 books ever stopped me from starting another?

This all makes me sound terribly impulsive, but I'm really not, except about books. But you know...Tad Williams, Connie Willis and Neil Gaiman--clearly a clever trap laid just for me!

[Ryan]

Hi all,

I'm Ryan and have been a casual listener of S&L for quite a while, but have finally decided to be more active in contributing to, and discussing the awesome reads that you guys choose! I got a kindle last Christmas and ever since I've been binge-reading (George RR Martin, Neal Stephenson, and Isaac Asimov). My favorite author is David Brin. I just finished up re-reading Ender's Game, and the trilogy/quartet that followed and I'm excited to start reading Elantris.

[Gresst]

Hi!

I'm Gresst. I've been listening to the podcast for a little over a year. I think I found it after Tom mentioned it on another of his shows.

The first science fiction I remember reading in grade school was the Tom Swift, Jr. series. I think I had run out of Hardy Boys Mysteries. I've been reading 'regular' science fiction since the mid 1970's. I loved "Ender's Game" when it was a novelette in Analog. Now I feel really old. Looking forward to being more a part of the book club, though!

[Michael]

Noel wrote: "A massive welcome from me Michael, I am a fan of yours and devoured the Riryia books this summer. I am really looking forward to Percepliqis coming out but am a bit confused as to its release on the kindle in the UK. Is it called Heir of Novron now?

Can't say enough about how good your books are.....fantasy with real panache...can't wait to see how it ends for Royce and co."

Noel, Thanks...I'm so glad to meet a fan. Heir of Novron does indeed include Percepliquis but there will be a "standalone" version as well. You'll be able to buy the last book without having to re-buy Wintertide.

The final book is approaching pretty soon now - I'm going to be very excited to see what the impressions are once the completed series is available.

[Cláudio]

Hello, I'm Claudio from Brazil.

I'm an Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon with a serious interest in Technology, Science and Science ficction books.

I have this problem of not having someone to talk to about, as my friends use to call it, the "nerdy stuff".

Thanks for being here!

Best,

CD.

[Scott]

Hi my name is Scott. I recently got into fantasy books after watching the Game of Thrones series. Before I got into fantasy I was reading biographies and sports books. My favorite author is the late David Halberstam. I'm currently reading Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind. I have a few more fantasy books in my queue that I can't wait to get into.

[Lloyd]

Hi currently reading Reamde,

[Mike]

Hi, my name is Mike. I've been lurking for a while, but have downloaded Elantris on my Kindle and plan to finally join in on the discussion.

[Kurt]

Hello, I'm Kurt
I'm a huge nerd that runs the gamut of fantasy and sci-fi and everything in between. Found you guys through the Nerdist podcast and have been listening to your podcast since. Looking forward to being a part of this group.

[Stephen]

G'day, I'm Stephen and I live in Australia. I've been a Sci-fi/Fantasy fan since I can remember. From my first taste with The Hobbit to EE 'Doc' Smith's Lensman Series. I'm currently reading David Weber and Larry Niven (Fleet of Worlds Series and yes, I'm Man-Kzin War Fan as well).
I've only just discovered Sword and Laser (better late than never). My authors and tastes vary, I've only just begun working on my reading list here.
I'm very much looking forward to getting involve in the discussions here.
Cheers

[Michael]

Hi, I'm Michael and, much like Craig, I'm the one that grew up reading fantasy - even going so far as playing D&D for a time. Now, I'm a pastor and author of fantasy novels, with my debut novel just released October 1st - Shadows: Book of Aleth, Part One. Enjoy and have a happy Thanksgiving!

[Matthew]

Hi, I'm Matthew, from the Seattle area. I'm a long-time SF/F reader and have been reviewing them online and in print for about 13 years now. My current project is raygunreviews.wordpress.com (a sister site to raygunrevival.com).

[Andrés]

Hi Guys, I'm Andres, from Colombia, currently living in Tampa.
I've always loved reading and Jules Verne was my first favorite, after that sci-fi trapped me, and Asimov finished the job, I also love the fantasy genre.
I've been lurking around for a while just listening to the podcast. but I finally decided to join the group.
thanks for all the fun!