Introduction and welcome thread! Showing 2,251-2,300 of 4,412

[Thomas]

Greetings! I'm a long time fan of science fiction and fantasy, living in Tucson, AZ. I'm also now an author in the sci-fi genre - check the Author Promo section for more on that.

My tastes as a reader are eclectic, and range well beyond genre boundaries, but the bulk of my fiction reading comes from the likes of Tolkein, Peake, C.J. Cherryh, Isaac Asimov, Roger Zelazny, and Kim Stanley Robinson, to name only a few that happened to come to mind just now.

This looks like a lively group. Sorry it took me so long wander in this direction!

Tom

[Crissy]

Hello, My name is Crissy:)

I started my epic adventure into fantasy novels a bazillion years ago when I read Tamora Pierce's Alanna series. I then proceeded to read everything by her and more( yay Daine and Numair!).

My love of science fiction didn't blossom until a few months ago. By happenstance I picked up Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Great work of SF that is intelligent and thought provoking. ridiculous ending by the way...

Oh and I love Steampunk i.e Gail Carriger, Cherie Priest and G.D Falksen :)

Parasol Protectorate FTW!!

[Lindsay]

Hi! Excited to join my first Goodreads group! I've always loved to read, and recently I've reconnected to the joys of reading. Once I get into a book, I'll read every chance I get, so most of my reading is via the Kindle app on my phone.

[Bernie]

Hello
Canadian guy who loves his motorcycles, skiing, reading and ,oh ya, his family!
Just finished reading , fabulous!
Now in the process of reading the new Brent Weeks series, .
Look forward to some monthly reads and discussions.
Cheers!

[Meghan]

Hello! I've finally joined goodreads after hearing about it via the Sword and Laser Youtube show. I resisted for so long simply because I was already set up over at shelfari, but decided I would be happier here.

I would say I'm definetly more swoard than laser, though I'm always willing to give Scifi a shot.

My favorite authors include Garth Nix, Christopher Moore, and Robin Hobb.

[Shane]

How's it going. I'm Shane, from Sacramento, California. I was turned on to S&L in a roundabout way through The Nerdist. I came around just in time to jump on board with The Cloud Atlas. Pretty great since I was already planning on reading this book, and excellent timing with the movie coming out. I'm enjoying the book so far, but I'm only about half way through the second story. Still, it's been fun.

I enjoy Sci-Fi/Fantasy books a lot. I used to be a member of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy book club when I was about 12 or 13. I miss that :) Some of my favorite authors are Stephen King, R.A. Salvatore, Robert Aspirin, Douglas Adams, and many more.

By the way, I'm stoked to finally find a "book club" that isn't geared towards lonely house wives :)

[Shane]

Bernie wrote: "Hello
Canadian guy who loves his motorcycles, skiing, reading and ,oh ya, his family!
Just finished reading , fabulous!
Now in the process of reading the new Brent Week..."

I totally forgot to mention Brent Weeks and Joe Abercrombie in my intro post. The new Brent Weeks book was awesome.

[Natalie]

Hi, I'm Natalie.

I'm a working mum of two, and reading keeps me sane. I read a variety of genres esp fantasy - havent read much SF lately so hoping to improve on that with this group!

I found my way here via G&S on youtube, looking forward to the Cloud Atlas discussion.

[A.L.]

Nice to see so many geeks:)

[Emma]

Hello everyone! I'm Emma. I've been watching the geek and sundry YouTube channel for a while now, and happened to stumble across a y'alls show. I've always really enjoyed it, and thought I'd get more out of it if I started reading along and joined the forum. I really enjoy fantasy, but I've only recently gotten into science fiction. I hope that this forum will really help me find good books and explore the two genres more!

[Thomas]

Alexandra wrote: "Nice to see so many geeks:)"

Indeed. There are more out there than you might think. :)

[Thomas]

Which is very reassuring!

[J.L.]

Hi all! I'm a native Detroiter Harvard alum, avid reader of literary fiction, suspense and sci fi, and have three books of my own, the last of which made it to #1 bestselling novel at Amazon in Political eBooks and also as "Occupy's 1st bestselling novel" TRADING DREAMS (which you and yours can download Free from Amazon -- Gift it to your network! http://amzn.to/OlbjAp

"...vivid scenes at a kinky sex club on the outskirts of Greenwich Village with references to the bursting economic bubble and the federal government's bank bailout."
― Publishers Weekly
http://bit.ly/Q7TUIy

"Trading Dreams is an enticing and humorous read, not to be overlooked."
― Midwest Book Review

"...exposing enough greed, hypocrisy, and blatant illegality to make even the least informed reader deliciously angry."
― Harvard Independent
http://bit.ly/OOIcng

"An ideal read for suspense lovers interested in the current financial
crisis."
― Booklist
http://bit.ly/Q6Z9v5

"Occupy's 1st bestselling novel"
― Occupy Virtual Worlds
http://bit.ly/PdSDTb

"Superb fiction with a side of harsh reality and a heaping of humor!"
― Raise The Fist
http://bit.ly/SjCZk6

"A compelling mystery that is also a story of personal discovery – as well as an in-depth analysis of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the factors that have created our economic kerfuffle."
― Frying Pan News
http://bit.ly/RV5YhK

[Rob, Roberator]

Please keep the promotion to that section. It's fine to mention that you're an author, but the reviews don't belong here.

[S.G.]

I'm s-girl - in my free time I draw and write. Typically I'm a Tolkien girl, with a little bit of Bradbury, Asimov, and Brooks tossed in there. However, I love Gail Carriger for her wit and love for tea/Victorian stuff.

[B.A.]

Hello All,

I am Bret from Iowa. Admittedly I am more on the Sci Fi side than Fantasy, but I enjoy them both. I blame my dad for exposing me to ST:TNG at a young age.

Some of my favorite writers are Harry Turtledove, Joss Whedon, Warren Ellis, Alan Moore, J. K. Rowling, and of course, Jules Verne.

[Amy]

I'm Amy. I read pretty much anything. I don't participate in many groups but one of my friends from Twitter pointed me to this one and it sounded interesting.

[Kyle]

Hey everyone, new to the thread, been on goodreads and listening to the podcast for a while. Just always seemed to be out of sync with the group when a new book was being started. Jumping in with Cloud Atlas.

[Josh]

Hi,I,m Josh.I love to read, and love all the Geek and Sundry shows,so this seems like a good place to be.Some of my favorite writers are Jack Vance,Diana Wynne-Jones,P.G.Wodehouse.

[Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁]

Hey, I'm Jessica. I decided to join after first watching the Gail Carriger interview on her blog and then googling and watching a bunch of the other interviews. I love to read both Science Fiction and Fantasy so it seemed like a good fit.

[Jonathan]

Hello! My name's Jon and this is the perfect book club for me! I'm currently reading Ready Player One and I'm really enjoying it so far.

My favorite authors include Terry Pratchett, Tolkien, J.R.R, Robert Jordan, and Stephen King.

Finding The Sword and Laser was actually a roundabout process for me. It started at a random Lifehacker article I stumbled upon about how Felicia Day works. That led me to the website Geek & Sundry, which, after much perusing, eventually led me here!

[Tompopaageo]

Hi, I'm Wendy, mother of many (4 at the last count), and when I'm not organising my brood any spare time I have is spent reading. Since getting a kindle I've gone a bit mental buying books so decided to join some groups to get some pointers and have picked up some good stuff from recommendations from the group.

I've already read Cloud Atlas many times so I'm looking forward to the next group read.

[Dara]

Hello, my name is Dara. I enjoy reading most kind of books but hope to get some good fantasy and sci-fi recs from this group and to broaden my horizons. Enjoy all things Geek and Sundry and hope I can contribute in some way.

Favorite authors include George RR Martin, JRR Tolkien and JK Rowling.

[Kiera]

Hello, I'm Kiera.
I absolutely adore fantasy, and occasionally read some SF as well. I also love classics and medieval texts.
It's hard to name favourite authors: but to name a few they would be J.R.R. Tolkien, Garth Nix, Patrick Rothfuss and Ursula K. Le Guin.

[Joshua]

Hello, I am Joshua. I've posted a few times but haven't introduced myself yet. I discovered the podcast version of the show through the episode of Nerdist with Veronica and have listened to a number of the episodes without actually taking part in the book club or joining the GoodReads group. I took a long time joining GoodReads because I was having trouble transferring my library of books from LibraryThing to GoodReads and eventually gave up for a while.

I have since been able to transfer my library of books and joined the group. I look forward to posting more as a big fan of Science Fiction and Fantasy ever since I read The Hobbit as a little kid and seeing the original Star Wars trilogy for the first time. My favorite authors are pretty typical with Neil Gaiman, J.R.R. Tolkien, Douglas Adams, China Mieville, George R.R. Martin, Phillip K. Dick, and outside the realm of Sword and Laser William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens,and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

[Blair]

Hi, My name is Blair

I am a Fantasy / Sci-fi reading fan, focusing more in the fantasy side of things currently. Teacher read The Hobbit to us in grade 6, and the seed was planted. Beyond the Tolkienverse, I am a huge fan of The Wheel of Time Series, Song of Fire and Ice Series, Harry Potter series, and my sci-fi interest mainly lay in the Star Wars books. I also read the odd Sports personalities books that focus on humour.

Found this forum from the You Tube Show on Geek and Sundry.

[Tara]

Hi, I'm Tara.
I've been reading books longer than I can remember, but I've always loved sci fi/fantasy the best out of them all.

Some of my favorite authors include Tanya Huff, Charles de Lint, and Anne Bishop.

[Redrosevertigo0]

Hi! **waves** I'm Sara and I let my geek flag fly proudly. I read the way some people change their underwear; everyday weather I need to or not. I am currently reading a fiction novel and a non fiction novel at the same time to get through my shelves faster. I like reading historical fiction, fantasy and am looking for some good sci-fi. Non fiction wise I read about history, science (especially birds), and social issues.

Favorite authors include Gail Carriger, Susan Carroll, Greg Keyes, Tolkien and Mercedes Lackey.

I discovered this group after watching them interview Gail Carriger.

[Thomas]

Redrosevertigo0 wrote: "Hi! **waves** I'm Sara and I let my geek flag fly proudly. I read the way some people change their underwear; everyday weather I need to or not. I am currently reading a fiction novel and a non fic..."

(Waves back) Howdy!

[Sean]

Yo, I'm Sean.

I'm a sucker for the darker side of both Sci-Fi and Fantasy, not so much horror as takes with rather dark plots mind you. In addition I find that a little (or even a lot) of violence rarely hurts a good story. I've been on a Steam Punk and Urbane Fantasy kick of late, as I love it when something blurs the lines between my favorite genera’s. Add to that their often grim, dystopic settings, and I get the feeling I’m gonna be at this for a while.

I’m also an amateur story teller and enjoy building intricate, massive, and dangerous worlds in pen and paper role playing sessions as well as short stories.

I came here by way of the Sword and Laser YouTube show, and am trying to get caught up on the podcasts.

Favorite authors include J.R.R. Tolkien, Orison Scott Card, Larry Coreia, and Steven King.

[Erica]

I'm Erica. It's nice to meet all of you! I like to read a little bit of everything but I've always had a particular fondness for fantasy. I'm a librarian at a k - 8 school so I read a lot of juvenile and YA fiction as well. I'm horrible at picking favorites but I love Robin Hobb, Roald Dahl, Albert Camus, Haruki Murakami, Orhan Pamuk, Mary Renault, Scott Westerfeld, Neil Gaiman, Grace Lin, Douglas Adams, and Oscar Wilde. I hope to get some great conversations about books out of the group!

[Glenn]

hi!

Heinlein for sure. Bear. Cherryh is my current favorite, especially her _Foreigner_. Eddings back in the day! Never much got into Tolkein, is that weird?

[Don]

Hi. I've been reading SF off and on since the mid sixties. Now that I'm semi-retired I have more time and energy and have picked up speed from an occassional SFF to a constant companion. I love Game of Thrones, Miles Vorkosigan, James SA Corey, The Foundation, Harry Potter and many others. Whether in print, e-book or audio format I love it. Love podcasts like S&L, blogs like SF Signal, and lots of tech talk too. This is such an active forum, I am really happy to finally jump in.

[Matthew Anderson]

Hello my name is Matt, I'm just getting back into reading after high school english really burned me out on reading books at all.

[Kevin]

Hello, my name is Kevin. I have been a fan of scify and fantasy for as long as I can remember.

[Carolina]

Hi, my name is Carolina. I've been a library rat all my life and now in addition I'm also a lab rat. Most my reviews are posted in my blog. I just recently started reading Cloud Atlas, so I doubt I will be able to finish it by October 31, but I will do my best.
I'm a follower of The Guild, which took me to the Flog and consequently to Sword & Laser!.

[Michael]

Hi everyone! My name is Mike. I live in Richmond, VA (also lived in Richmond, CA once upon a time, but that's a story for elsewhere) with my wife and our menagerie. By day I'm a DBA and am slowly transforming myself into a developer; by night I'm working on my MSIS at Virginia Commonwealth University (you might have seen our basketball team in the past few years, ya?). I should be done in about three years.

I try to read as much as I can; I tend to stick to sci-fi and fantasy, but lately I've been thinking about branching out, and figured joining a book club - yes, even one associated with sci-fi and fantasy - would be a good way to do that. So, here I am!

[Antoniospace]

Hi fellow readers,
I'm Antonio from Italy, although all my friends, real or imaginary, call me Space.
I'm an open-air-activity obsessed, but when skateboarding, snowboarding, climbing and sailing give me some free time, I love to lose myself between the pages of a good book and "Bovary me".
My motto is:
It doesn't matter if it's genre fiction or a thriller/noire until it's well written.
........
Well obviously it's not really my motto, .... it's not even a motto, but whatever.

If there's a book that describe me well certainly is
of Martin Page,
but in the genre literature I find myself a lot in Fitzchivalry of the Farseer trilogy of the talented Robin Hobb.

I would love to participate to all the sword and laser activity, even if I'm a complete noob of the podcast/videocast of the amazing Tom and Veronica, this look like a fine community to share my interest and learn a lot.
I apologize for my english, but ... hey! Second language here ;)

Greetings
Space

[Marjorie]

Hi, I'm Marjorie. Average time member first time poster. Reader and aspiring author. I'll read almost any genre of book. Recently I have leaned towards Sci-Fi/Fantasy type of literature. Thanks S&L.

[Liz]

Hi all! I'm Liz. I'm on the Sword, but still enjoy some Laser books.
Favorite authors include Brandon Sanderson, Terry Pratchett and Jim Butcher.

I love reading and I'm excited to see what books this group introduces me to.

[[deleted user]]

Hi, I'm Rob, new member, still figuring out how goodreads works. I'm reading Reliquary by Lincoln Preston, finished the Relic a few weeks back. I'll read pretty much anything with a good story. I like Stephen King, although I've not read many of his books. I also write. But my oh my this is a big group, I feel like my words are lost already, already, already. Quite an echo.

[[deleted user]]

Redrosevertigo0 wrote: "Hi! **waves** I'm Sara and I let my geek flag fly proudly. I read the way some people change their underwear; everyday weather I need to or not. I am currently reading a fiction novel and a non fic..."

**waves back** hiya :)

[Katie]

Hey! I'm Katie. I like cats, knitting, zombies, reading & watching sci-fi, and Hoarders.

I discovered Sword & Laser when I was looking for the newest episode of Tabletop. I was disappointed I hadn't found them sooner, as many of the books read recently are on my to-read list!

Next month's The Dirty Streets of Heaven will be my first read along.

[Antoniospace]

Welcome Marjorie, Liz, Robert and Katie.

[Sheldon]

My first sci-fi book was "The Red Planet" by Robert Heinlein. I read it when I was 7 and it's been full speed ahead since.

I can't say I've read everything written in the sci-fi genre (can anyone?) but I've certainly read a huge number of what's considered the classics. I've even had the pleasure of meeting a number of writers and sci-fi-related artists over the years, too.

I've also got an interesting collection of old sci-fi "pulps" from as far back as the 1920s.

I don't limit myself to sci-fi. I've read plenty of fantasy, mystery, historical, biography, etc, etc. But my touchstone for books has always been science fiction. Hard sci-fi for the most part.

On average, if I'm not to socked-in busy, I read about two books a week.

Needless to say, I'm always on the lookout for new, great books to read.

So what's next!

[Tm]

Hi All!

I'm am an amateur writer (hopefully my self publishing will push that to a higher status) and an amateur reader.

I just uploaded my first Kindle ebook to Amazon about a month ago, titled 'Onyx Plague'

I mostly stick to fantasy but I enjoy a fast paced story with action and/or adventure (contemporary more so than Sci/Fi. I plan on writing similar books, beginning with Fantasy.

I'm an accountant, more for practical reasons. I choose accounting in college thinking I could start writing when I got around to it, knowing that it would be hard to learn businesses with a degree in English! I have also spent a lot of time programing.

My Favorite Authors were/are: David Gemmell, Robert Jordan and Raymond E. Feist

Anyway, I'm trying to be active in the Social Media so here are a few links:

Blog: http://xiphoidpublishing.blogspot.com/

Book: http://www.amazon.com/Onyx-Plague-Dra...

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Onyx-Pl...

Twitter: @XiphoidPublish

Thanks for reading!

T. M. Clifford

PS. 'Onyx Plague' is FREE for October 26-28, 2012

PPS. My blog includes and will include more information about small businesses, for authors in particular, but applicable on many levels.(less) "

[Dan]

Salutations and well met! I’m Dan, I live in Florida for a couple more days before I venture back to San Diego. I’m a reading addict and an amateur author. For myself, Fantasy started primarily with Tolkien and R.A. Salvatore; my first copy of "The Silmarillion", green fabric with a yellowed map, was signed “To Dan, Merry Christmas- 1977” (go figure, I was born in ‘81.) Branched out quite a bit by my twenties. Some favorites- “Hit Man” -Lawrence Block, “The Gold Coast” -Nelson DeMille, “Oryx and Crake” (Heard referenced today) and also “The Robber Bride” -Margaret Atwood, “Messenger“ -Lois Lowry, “The Catcher in the Rye” -J.D. Salinger. Just finished -“Brimstone Angels” - Erin Evans, 3 days, loved it, couldn’t put it down. Currently reading “Unclean” -Richard Byers, not so thrilled but I refuse to lem it because I liked his work in “War of the Spider Queen.” Consistent with my current D&D theme, next in line is “Venom in her Veins” -Tim Pratt, looks interesting, then I’m breaking away from Forgotten Realms again for a while. I can’t read writers like Jack Kerouac, (What! He’s a literary icon!) -and I’ve never made it all the way through “Atlas Shrugged” -not that I haven’t tried multiple times in regards to both. Happy reading!

[Lee]

Hi, I'm Lee, and just found S&L after watching some of Tabletop.

I'm a gamer, far more into playing games than reading the inspirational fiction, but I still do it. Military-related books often grab me before other sword & laser books, but I sometimes let my mind wander when something nifty pops up at the local library.

[Brian]

Greetings all, I am Brian,
I love History (fiction and non), sci-fi, and fantasy, but read just about any genre... at least once. At the moment I am reading mostly non-fiction history for my BA that I am trying to finish up, but look forward to soon being able to catch up on some of the books mentioned in here.

I have never been a part of a book-club and look forward to reading some of the books and conversing with you all.

I am a US West-Coaster (lived in all three west coast states, currently near Seattle, WA)

[Eric]

Hello all,

Just wanted to pop in and introduce myself. I have never belong to a book group before but enjoy reading greatly. I, however, have an annoying habit just re-reading my favorites instead of finding new books. I'm hoping to expand my horizons and discuss new books with potential new friends.