Introduction and welcome thread! Showing 2,201-2,250 of 4,412

[Sile]

Hi! I'm Sile. I'm a huge Fantasy fan. Not so much a Sci-Fi fan when it comes to books, but I was raised by a Trekkie and it definitely rubbed off.
Some of my favorite authors are David Eddings, Tamora Pierce, Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Sir Walter Scott.
I was introduced to Sword and Laser by a couple of friends who follow Geek and Sundry on youtube.

[Celine]

Hi. I'm Celine, coming here on the G&S train.

My readings tastes are much like my tastes in every other category - I like everything at least a little bit. (Even YA paranormal romance.) My tastes tend to swing more towards the sword side than anywhere else, but I'm starting to get into more varied genres now, sci-fi especially but also classic lit, YA, historical, detective, satire, comedy, etc etc etc.

I'm currently reading Moving Pictures, Foundation, Into the Wild, Mike Carey's run on Ultimate Fantastic Four, and rereading The Graveyard Book, Fullmetal Alchemist, and Runaways.

I just recently read Fahrenheit 451 (for another book club) and Luna.

Hoping I can keep up, I always seem to fall behind when I join book clubs.

[Ashlie]

Hi! I am Ashlie and I am a librarian. I love Terry Pratchett and Robin McKinley. Lately, I have been on a Steampunk kick, but I enjoy all kinds of Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I didn't start reading Sci-Fi until college when a friend forced me to read Hitchhiker's Guide, and I have been hooked ever since!
I started watching the Sword and Laser on the Geek and Sundry channel on YouTube a couple of months ago and have been really enjoying it, so I thought I might try the forum too!

[Alan]

Hi all. I'm Alan.

Been into Sci-Fi books from a young age, it's my default genre. Love Asimov (the latest video review brought me here) and Arthur C Clarke, but will try anything. I like to keep an open mind on books.

Have recently got back into reading after a very long break.

Prefer 'real' book as opposed to the e-type just love the tactility of it.

[Neil]

Hi Chaps and Chapettes. I'm Neil.
I enjoy reading but my range of authors has never been that varied. For the most part it has been limited to Pratchett, Gaiman and Adams and not much else. When I saw this group on Geek and Sundry I thought I would try joining in as a way to expand my range a bit.
I am currently reading Foundation.
I am currently eating some raspberry ripple ice cream.

[Helena]

Hi! My name is Helena. I found Sword and Laser through Geek and sundry. I love fantasy, SF, horror, urban fantasy, historic fantasy and always a good murder mystery. Among my favourite books are the A song of ice and fire series R R Marin, Lord of the rings Tolkien, Neuromancer W Gibson, Foucault Pendulum U Eco, Queen Margot A Dumas and Gainman/Pratchett Good Omens. I started reading fantasy with the classics fairytales Brothers Grimm and HC Anderson and the lot then I went on to CS Lewis, Narnia, Susan Coopers Dark is rising, Baum Wizard of OZ and Le Guin Earthsea. I love the King Arthur saga and have tried to read all versions of it TH White, Zimmerman Bradley, Mallory... The scariest story I ever read is E A Poes The murder in rue morgue. I am currently reading China Mieville Perdido Street Station a great book. If I would give you all an author tip it would be to read anything by Phil Rickman, C. J. Sansom or Joe Abercrombie.

[Raymond]

Howdy! My name is Raymond and, yes, I am an author. I'm 37, father of 3, and husband of 1. I'm a long-time Sci/Fi fan, Star Wars being my gateway drug (we're talking seeing ROTJ open on the big screen, opening day). Right now I'm reading a lot of Urban Fantasy, Steampunk, the occasional Star Wars EU novel (my guilty pleasures), and whatever else Angry Robot lets me read (just read Mockingbird by Chuck Wendig -- holy crap!)

[Aaron]

Hello. Aaron here, a soon to be 22 year old who is studying a degree in animal behaviour. I may be switching to psychology though in the next few weeks.

Anyway, I love the laser side and am trying to get into the sword books that are also being read. Sadly I sometimes end up Lemming one or two fantasy novels but then within a few weeks pick them up because I hate leaving any book unfinished.

Really enjoying Sword and Laser on the G&S channel. Been listening to the podcasts for about a year now but Stumble Upon brought me to Good Reads today so I thought I would give it a try.

[Luis]

Hi guys, this is Luis. I'm 24 and I'm from Lima, Peru. I really like reading fantasy/SciFi novels and short stories. Currently, I'm reading Foundation and I'm looking forward for starting some urban fantasy and steampunk novels.

[Cait]

Hey, I'm Cait, and I've been reading adventures and fantasies as long as I can remember. I would get in trouble in grade school from rushing through my work so I could read the book I brought. I've read a wide variety (my goodreads is sadly behind on the times) but currently I'm in the middle of Little Women and about to start the Dragon Lance series thanks to a friend. I can't wait to get started here!

Also my dad LOVES the Foundation series, so I'm sure he'll have plenty to comment on.

[Antonio]

Hello all,

My name is Antonio. I like stories that make me feel something. I enjoy reading anything ranging from myth-inspired authors like Gaiman 9(wonder), to space operas by Banks (awe) and mysteries by Trevanian (shock at newly finished "Summer of Katya"!). So no real consensus on style, just quality, haha.

I'm an architect by education, so I'd like to think I can meld my passion for stories with my passion for built space. Someday...

[Mike]

My name is Mike. My favorite books are Dune, Hyperion and Ender's Game. I read whenever I can but most of my time writing.

[Erin]

Hi, my name is Erin. I am currently reading Fool Moon by Jim Butcher. Some of my favourite authors are Arthur C. Clarke, Orson Scott Card and Martin Millar. I am hoping to be able to read a book along with the group some time soon. I am more into the Laser than the sword.

[Thomas]

Hey Everyone!

I learned about S&L during an interview I did on mintCast, a weekly Linux podcast. They told me I should check this out, and so here I am.

I'm a self-published fantasy author, a full-time software developer, a Linux geek, a role-player, husband, father, and so much more.

Glad to be here, and look forward to taking part in the discussions. :)

[Elgin]

Hello Internet folks, I'm a fresh G&S import.

I'm into some Space Opera and Fantasy. Right now I've been boring through the Horus Heresy books because there is nothing better then beer and pretzel SciFi. Favorite books include the Wheel of Time series, Dune, Use of Weapons, and Way of Kings.

[Ashley]

Hi everyone my name is Ashley! I found the Sword an Laser show on the Geek and Sundry channel and instantly fell in love with it. By the time i came across it though i hadn't read a single book in almost 2 years because of school and i'm finally getting back to my old passions again. I've always loved reading and think i will someday end up pursuing a writing career, i have a few ideas of my own swirling around in my brain. I always have been more partial to Sword, but i'm trying out Laser as well and am liking it just as much. But i have so much good reading to catch up on!

[Joey]

Hi, I'm Joey!

I'm a reader of sci-fi and fantasy mainly, but have a soft spot for horror, crime, comedy, and thrillers when well-written. It's especially nice when a single story manages to fit all six. I'm a huge fan of the youtube show and have been thinking about jumping on the boards here for a while.

I'm also a comics writer and an author, or just getting started as one. My serial novel "Gatewalker" just went live over at JukePopSerials.com, so I'm in that early, heavy-pimping stage. I'm looking forward to jumping into the mix!

[Craig]

Hello everyone!

Like some others, I discovered the show and podcast from Geek and Sundry. I love them both. I read sci-fi, fantasy, non-fiction science, and comics/graphic novels. Anyway, I've been lurking for a while so I thought I should finally step-up and introduce myself.

[J. Alberto]

Hi there, I'm Jesús.

I love science fiction and fantasy, but I didn´t got around to read as much as I used to. My dad had a huge novel collection and some of my siblings love to read, but I live pretty far from them, and I don´t have any friends who like science fiction AND reading... until now.

Since I started watching S&L I got back on the saddle and I used to average reading 1 book a year. Since last month I've read 5 and I feel I was missing out on much.

I don't have any favorite authors, just beloved authors Tolkien above all. J.K Rowling, George R. R. Martin and Michael Crichton just to name a few.

[Nik]

Hello. My name is Nik. I love fantasy and sci-fi. I also like fiction. My favorite authors are Neil Gaiman, Suzanne Collins and J.K. Rowling.

[Jordan]

Hey My name is Jordan.

I am new to the Fantasy and Science Fiction Genre. I have been following Sword and Laser on Geek and Sundry so I decided to start reading the books instead of just hearing about them. I have always enjoyed reading a good book but College had put me off of reading for a while.

I work in IT as a desktop Tech and I recently moved to San Diego all the way from Buffalo NY. I like to call my self a geek in training Because I only started to get in to Science Fiction and Fantasy a year ago. I'm super excited to start reading I also joined Vaginal Fantasy group cause as a girl I love those ridiculous romantic stories and the discussions that go on make it even more worth while!!

[Rob, Roberator]

Jordan wrote: " all the way from Buffalo NY"

I'm originally from Buffalo too, but I've lived in MD for 8 years. What part?

Also..nice chair..

[J. Alberto]

Joey wrote: "Hi, I'm Joey!

I'm a reader of sci-fi and fantasy mainly, but have a soft spot for horror, crime, comedy, and thrillers when well-written. It's especially nice when a single story manages to fit al..."

Check out Nocturnal by Scott Sigler if you haven't already.

[Rachel]

Hi! My name is Rachel and this is my first online book club join! I'm very excited. Please bear with me if I screw up threads, the size of this thing is kind of overwhelming! I look forward to good conversations and good reads. I'm so glad this exists!

[Lindsay]

Hey all, I'm Lindsay. I think the books that first got me interested in the genre were Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I remember one summer in middle school I literally read all of them (of what was out at the time). Looking forward to being introduced to some new reads! :D

[Kevin]

Lindsay wrote: "Hey all, I'm Lindsay. I think the books that first got me interested in the genre were Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. I remember one summer in middle school I literally read all of them (o..."

You did not have a problem that Terry Goodkind's books are trying to push Ayn Rand's philosophy of Objectivisim through the actions of Richard? I know a lot of people did, and got turn off by the series other than book one, which they though of more as a normal fantasy book.

[Terri]

Hi, I'm Terri, and this is my first group as well. I've been watching the Sword and Laser on Youtube (my husband has been a fan of the podcast for a while) and decided to join. We both read mostly sci fi but decent fantasy also gets a read.
I too, am looking forward to some new read threads.

[Tracey]

Hey folks, Tracey here, joining in from the East Coast of the Great White North.

My husband (laser) and I (sword) are both long-time readers, gamers and all-round geeky people.

Current favourite authors in our house include David Weber, Jacqueline Carey, Lynn Flewelling and Patrick O'Brian.

[Charles]

I am comming to you from Southern California and I have been a voratious reader of both Sword and Laser genras.

It is hard to narrow it down to just a few but some of my all time favorites authors are Tolkin, Terry Brooks, L. E. Modesitt, Jr and Jim Butcher.

I do have a tendency to prefer long series of books that I can get into the characters and follow them through many stories.

[Matt]

Hi I'm Matt, new sword and laser fan here, really pumped I found this group. I love Vonnegut, Tolkien, Gaiman, Patrick O'Brian, many more. Nice to meet you!

[Ezra]

dingdingding, Ezra here!

looking for a community to read along with. I went to a local book club but didn't enjoy it.

I like S&L!

[A.L.]

Hi I am Alex, I read and watch a variety of genre including fantasy and sci fi and I write fantasy. The whole podcast idea is new to me but I will hopefully be able to check it out.

[Erik]

Hi I'm Erik, I work at a library and just recently discovered Sword and Laser through the Geek and Sundry channel on YouTube. I'm the library's resident graphic novel geek, but I'd like to try out some more sci-fi/fantasy books that aren't filled with pictures and thought S&L could help out with that. My favorite authors include Jonathan Hickman, Michael Chabon, Alan Moore, and Ed Brubaker.

[Christopher]

Hello All! I just discovered Sword and Laser through Geek and Sundry. Very excited to discover this forum and also all the back catalog of podcasts.

As for my reading tastes I love the Dresden Files but was kind of out of scifi loop for a while. I read tons as a kid (Isaac Asimov, Frederick Pohl, Arthur C. Clarke) but kind of stopped reading scifi in my mid 20's.

I am looking forward to catching up with this club and already have "The Magicians" ready to go. Really excited to try this book as I read Austin Grossman's debut novel a few years ago.

[Shonty]

Hi!
My name is Chantelle and I'm looking to broaden my reading horizons! I am a novice fantasy/sci-fi reader, with no more than 20 fantasy/sci-fi novels under my belt; but I'm eager to read! So far, I'm a fan of Orson Scott Card, Charles DeLint, Douglas Adams, and C.S. Lewis, to name a few.

[Chadwick]

Hello everyone, my name is Chad.

I have been a devout reader of horror, science-fiction, and fantasy for well over 30 years. Read some of the classics back in the day (mostly Heinlein) and gobbled up most (if not all) of the stuff written by Stephen King, Ramsey Campbell, Peter Straub, Charles L. Grant, James Herbert, and many others. I enjoy the Sword and Laser show (which I learned about at Baycon 2012) and look forward to being a part of the group here at Good Reads.

[Joshua]

My name is Josh and I am currently reading through Terry Pratchette's Disk World series (just finished Soul Music and loved it). I grew up reading Heinlein, Asimov, and tolkien as well as the original Grimm's fairytales. I stumbled on to the group thanks to youtube suggested videos. Thankfully the book was Asimov's Foundation that I had read previously so it was a quick read.

Glad to be part of the community and to steal a line from GK: "Be well, do good works, and keep in touch."

[Lili]

Hello Hello,

My name is Ali or Lili. I am a big epic fantasy nerd. I have just finished a degree from a four year university in art and not exactly sure what to do with the rest of my life but for now- its catching up on some good quality reading.

I hate to sound like a hipster but I started reading George R. R. Martin about 10 years ago. I was 13. That is some heavy stuff for a thirteen year old! Can't say I haven't had moments of growing up. And its been torture waiting for new books. I am also a huge fan of Tad Williams. His Dragonbone Chair was one of my first fantasies. I have also had the pleasure to meet Patrick Rothfuss when his first book came out. He lives about an hour away from me OHOHO (you are all jealous now). Some other favorites include (but not limited to) The Witches of Eileanan by Kate Forsyth, The Darkangel series by Meredith Anne Pierce, Sevenwaters series by Juliet Marillier, Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith, Black Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop, Kushiel Series by Jacqueline Carey, Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix, The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, Chronicles of Narnia, His Dark Material, The Deed of Paksenarrion series by Elizabeth Moon, and The Wayfarer Redemption series by Sara Douglass.

I started following Sword and Laser when I first saw Veronica on the Vaginal Fantasy Book Club hosted on Geek and Sundry. She seemed like a cool girlnerd and someone I seem to have similar tastes with. I severely wish I had some friends who understood my fangirl tendencies when it comes to literary fantasy characters. That's one reason I wanted to join- to feel connected and have some sort of social interaction based on common interests.

well tl:dr Thanks for Existing, Sword and Laser!
:E

[Ronan]

Hi,
I'm Ronan and I have fallen in and out of love with Science fiction and Fantasy down through the years. When I was young, these genres were not as widely accepted as they are now and that might have been part of the attraction. Ultimately, a genre is only a minor piece of why you like or dislike someone's writing. That said, a lot of what is Utopian in this disappointing world owes its source to the genres mentioned above: internet, space program, etc. Let's hope that continues.

[Steve]

Hi, Steve Davidson here.
I've been immersed in SF for just about half a century now and recently had an SF fan's dream-come-true when I was granted the trademarks for Amazing Stories.
I'd like to thank our hosts here for the shout-out they gave the magazine on their video show.
I'd appreciate it if you all stop by the blog - read the Volume Zero issues of the magazine I've prepared with content by Robert Silverberg, Barry Malzberg & others (both on the blog and as download E-mag) and to keep up with developments as I work on the return of the world's first SF magazine: there are many changes coming over the next couple of months. It's going to be an exciting time at the Experimenter Publishing Company and Amazing Stories magazine - blog.amazingstoriesmag.com

[Harold]

My name is Harold and you'll do what I say: whoop! whoop!

Clearly from that reference, I'm the father of two kids. My wife and I are home-schooling them this year (I'm the PE teacher, and backup instructor for writing, music, and math), which is quite an adventure. We live in Silicon Valley and do what it takes to survive there.

Though a fan of science fiction and fantasy from a young age, with books I read only a blend of classical and YA literature until I was 12 and my 7th grade teacher importuned me to read A Spell for Chameleon. After that, I was hooked on SF/F. I read voraciously for many years, and signed up for Goodreads in 2007. Unfortunately, back then there were few people on the site, and no one I knew, so I lapsed using the site until recently. The last several years I've participated and "won" NaNoWriMo, though at 50,000 words each year's product has been incomplete and way, way less than an actual novel.

In 2011 some of my friends actually started posting Goodreads updates to Facebook, which led me back to the site. It's good timing, as my son is old enough that he's reading nascent novels at last, and I'm reading a lot of YA stuff - approximately half of what I read now - to both experience what he's reading and to prepare for what he'll be reading next. I find I have to intersperse these with actual novels most of the time, because the YA stuff is generally poorly written - with a few notable exceptions - and so I've been reading more SF/F again.

Having watched "The Guild" and enjoyed it, I was tickled to find Felicia Day on Goodreads. It was her blog that led me to discover "Written by a Kid" (which is just brilliant), and from there I discovered both "TableTop" and "Sword & Laser."

My favorites...for fantasy: Raymond Feist's "Riftwar Saga" (recommended to any fan of high fantasy), Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (recommended to fans of faerie stories like the Abhorsen trilogy), Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" series, and anything by Diana Wynne Jones (for interesting and endlessly varied takes on how magic works). By contrast, I really didn't like both Wizard's First Rule and The Darkness That Comes Before , both competently written novels that turned my stomach for similar reasons.

For science fiction, I love John Steakley's Armor , Daniel Keys Moran's "Tales of the Continuing Time" series (as well as The Armageddon Blues ), pretty much anything by Ian McDonald, Iain M. Banks, Alistair Reynolds, and/or Neal Asher, and all of the non-contemporary books by Tim Powers. In general, I find that more authors write variety better in science fiction than in fantasy.

[Henry]

Hey y'all! I've been a member for a few months but just haven't ever posted anything. I don't usually comment much, but thought it was about time to jump on in.
So far I've found y'all to be a great resource for finding new books. I just finished reading "Tigana" tonight and read Leviathan Wakes a few months back.
Anyways, just stoppin' by to say hi!

[Rhapsody]

Hi my name is Vanessa and my to read list is too long. After I have finished a book I usually want to find out what other people thought as well so The Sword and Laser group is a good outlet for this, especially as most of my reads are in the fantasy genre. My favourite authors include Jacqueline Carey, Juliet Marillier and Trudi Canavan. I hope to find more great reads from this group and to add to my ever increasing to read list.

Henry, I have also recently finished reading Tigana.

[Carol Darnell]

Hi all, I'm Carol.

Librarian by degree, part-time freelance editor, and book-junkie forever, I started with Piers Anthony's "Xanth" and "Incarnations of Immortality" series when I was in middle school, as well as the "Warlock" series by Stasheff.

I moved on to Asimov's "Robot" series and then any Heinlein I could get my hands on in high school, although I also read Anne Rice's Vampire books then as well.

In college I found "War for the Oaks" and my true love became Urban Fantasy. Mercedes Lackey, Emma Bull, Neil Gaiman, Jim Butcher, Laurell K. Hamilton, Kim Harrison... the list does go on.

I'm also an avid roleplayer, and I get so many ideas for games from my reading list!

[Keira]

Hello! My name is Keira and my favorite authors are J. K. Rowling, T. H. White, Charles Dickens, and Jane Austen.

[James]

Hi! I'm Jimi. I have been watching Sword & Lazer on Geek & Sundry, and I have been dying to get into the book club portion as well, so here I am. I started "Cloud Atlas" on October 1st, and I am not ashamed to say that I finished in about an hour ago. I would not say I am a speed reader or anything, just a student who has a voracious apatite for good literature, and two jobs that give me a lot of boring hours that I have to fill with something.

I enjoy science fiction and fantasy the most out of all forms of literature, but I am up for the random and absurd as well. I Recently enjoyed buzzing through all the available parts of "A Song of Ice & Fire" over Summer, and then went back and did a re-read of Stephan King's "The Stand", which I had read in seventh grade. after that, I jumped into J.K's newest novel "A Casual Vacancy", which I would have to say is my least favorite read over the past year. I can see this as only my fault, having entered into the experience with too many expectations of something that would grab me in the same way that her previous books had done.

I hope I can contribute a lot to this book club, but I will have to remember to pull my nose out of the book long enough to participate.

[Troy]

Hello all -- Troy Jackson, a new author of an upcoming book called 'The Elementals', and a fantasy/science fiction geek since I was maybe 6...? Always loved JRR Tolkein, CS Lewis, Robert Jordan, and many others.

[Rachel]

Hello, I am Rae. I am a life long lover of both Sci-fi and Fantasy fiction. I happened here through some random Youtube use, and wow... I feel like I seriously missed a lot.

Got a lot of episodes to get caught up on, but I am psyched to be here. I write as well, have a tiny thing published on a web journal but am actively working on my first novel.

Favorite and Influential Writers: Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, George R.R. Martin, Anne McCaffrey, Jacqueline Carey, Diana Gabaldon, Morgan Llewellyn and the list goes on and on.

[[deleted user]]

Hello, I'm Matt. I'm a big fan of both SF and Fantasy. Came across this group a while back through Geek & Sundry and I'm looking forward to having a constant reminder to read something other than assigned reading for my coursework.

Some of my favourite authors include Neil Gaiman, Margaret Atwood, Chuch Palahniuk, Ray Bradbury, and Jack Kerouac. The best book I've read in a long time remains Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go. That, for me, was a reading experience second only to my first reading of the Hobbit way back in fifth grade.

[Stephen]

Hey there, my name's Stephen. I've been a big reader since I was a child, yet I recently hadn't been doing as much reading as I wanted. When I came across Sword and Laser a few months ago and started to listen to the archive of podcasts, the fire to read was rekindled. It took me awhile to jump into the group, but I'm very excited that I have.

A lot of people have posted about their favorite authors, so I guess I will too. The list includes Neil Gaiman, Mark Twain, J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and H. P. Lovecraft. Those are really the stand-outs for me.

Anyway, I hope to see you in the discussion threads!