Introduction and welcome thread! Showing 2,401-2,450 of 4,412

[Todd]

Hey all, Todd here. Though I've only been on Goodreads a short time it has really opened up my reading experience. Finally I have people to talk about books with. I went to school for literature but not the sci-fi/fantasy I like to read.

Some favorite authors include Philip K. Dick, George R.R. Martin, Jack Vance, Dan Abnett, and so many more I can't do justice with memory.

Kevin Hearne is a new favorite, dude's had me burning through his books lately.

I'm excited to join the group. It looks well run and seems to be a pretty vibrant community of readers to which I hope to contribute.

[Carter]

Hi, my name's Carter. I've been a Goodreads member for a little under a year, and I occasionally watch the video podcasts, but now I plan to get involved a lot more.

I'm currently making my way through A Song of Ice and Fire, and I'm on A Clash of Kings at the moment.

[Titta]

Hey everyone!

My name is Titta and I'm a fantasy reader. I haven't really read Sci-Fi before, but after finding this podcast I have read some, for example Asimov's Foundation. I hope to get more into Sci-Fi and also find new things on fantasy books. :)

Some of my favorite authors are Patrick Rothfuss, George R.R. Martin, J.K. Rowling and Johanna Sinisalo.

[Aaron]

Hello all. My name is Aaron. Canadian. Graphic designer. Discovered Sword & Laser by way of Day[9] / Geek & Sundry.

I enjoy fantasy and sci-fi. Terry Pratchett, Frank Herbert, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Neil Gaiman are enduring favourites of mine. Patrick Rothfuss and Geroge R.R. Martin are possible additions to that list. Currently reading/reserving judgement on David Weber. Don't talk to me about Robert Jordan or Terry Goodkind... just don't.

[Lyssa]

Hi y'all! I'm Lyssa. Fantasy geek and obsessed by all things Middle Earth. Love of Geek and Sundry led me here.

Love Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Terry Brooks most of the time, Margret Weis and Tracy Hickman.

Am thinking bout giving Wheel of Time another go...tried like the devil to get thru the first book but had to give up...a rare thing for me to not finish a book but that thing took waaaayyy to long to get going for me. But I do believe in second chances plus it had been recommended to me by a very good friend with excellent taste in books so we'll see what happens.

[Cory]

'allo all, I'm Cory. I was infected with nerdism as a child when my father carelessly exposed me to Star Trek, and my mother foolishly tried to cure my new affliction with LOTR.
What followed was a life filled with RPG binges, and star filled dreams that took place in a galaxy far far away. My eternal search for a princess to save had me meeting shady characters in dark basements, with attempts to destroy them with my powers from Wizards of the Coast. I found and joined with unlikely heroes to conquer Dungeons and Dragons. Always filled with a need to fulfill the craving that was my disease, I spent hours and days reading the ancient manuscripts of Terry Goodkind, and J.R.R. Tolkien and the like. I probed the aether for the texts of the sages yet to come reading from the minds of William Gibson, and Philip K. Dick. I have yet to cure myself of my affliction, and am beginning to think that this will be a life long battle with my disease. But I am strong of heart, and have a warriors soul. I have learned like my good friend Han to always shoot first. Thus I have joined a group of my kin in spirit. Open your hearts, but be wary, for here I come, and there is no stopping me.

I found sword and laser because I follow some of Tom's other works, and am starved to talk to other like minded readers, of which there are precious few in my life.
I have a strange sense of humor that at times grates some the wrong way so I apologize in advance if I offend anyone.
I hope to learn a lot, get a list of books to read that is impossible to fulfill in one life time and make a pal or 2.

[Cory]

apparently I'm unnecessarily loquacious as well..... sry

[Ty]

Hello everyone! I'm Ty.
I was blessed by living the first 8+ years of my life in a house in the middle of nowhere with no other children around to play with (with the exception of my sister...and what boy wants to spend much time playing with his younger sister.) So I read...and read some more...and never stopped reading. I read many varieties of books, but have a special affinity for horror, sci-fi, fantasy, and crime thrillers. Over the last year I got caught up on Game of Thrones and started reading my way through the Jack Reacher books. My favorite authors list is quite long, but a few favorites are Stephen King, Clive Barker, William Gibson, Terry Brooks, and Nick Hornby. I can't wait to get some recommendations for new books and authors here...this really looks like my kind of group!

[Wilmar]

Hello, I'm Wilmar!

I am technically a "new" reader because I took a very long hiatus from reading, well... anything. When October hit, I found myself with an irresistible urge to read a horror book for the holidays. I picked up Adam, blew threw it in a week, and am ready to take on more books!

I also wrote my own super heroine/science fiction book titled, The Silver Ninja, which was a 10 year project in the making. Feel free to check it out on Amazon if you'd like to.

I'm looking forward to checking out new types of books that I haven't considered reading before. Heck, I may even try romance, who knows?

[James]

Hello, I'm James.

I've been a fan of S&L on Youtube so I thought I would finally join goodreads. I'm a long time reader of SF and Fantasy (that's the subtle way of saying i'm old). My list of favorite authors would probably use far too many characters and I'm sure that I would misspell their names and then feel stupid.

[James]

Howdy, I'm also James. Longtime S&L lurker, really impressed with the great recommendations and discussions I've found here. As I get older, I find myself gravitating back to the Sword and away from the Laser, but I've got a soft spot for RAH, early Card, & Asimov. Recent reads include Dresden Files, Iron Druid, and a plethora of less prominent books (Blood Song & Zero Sight are two examples). Take it easy guys!

[Kat]

Hi everyone!

I'm kat, freelance artist, writer, mom, longtime fantasy reader. I enjoy pretty much any kind of speculative fiction, although I'm currently nomming on Lois McMaster Bujold's excellent Vorkosigan series, with a little Andre Norton and E.E. "Doc" Smith thrown in for variety. I've been a group member for a while, but too shy to introduce myself until now. ^^

[Chockeh]

Hello, I follow geek and sundry and occasionally watch S&L. :)

The reason I'm here is because I'm trying to find a book for my sister's 16th birthday tomorrow. She follows series such as The Hunger Games, Percy Jackson, The Mortal Instruments, Twilight (T_T), etc. I feel like anything involving Harry Potter and LOTR would intimidate her, but I don't know for sure. However, I may buy her The Hobbit. 300-400 pages are fine, but nothing over. Any recommendations for a young women who likes genres such as fantasy?

[Jim]

Chockeh wrote: "Hello, I follow geek and sundry and occasionally watch S&L. :)

The reason I'm here is because I'm trying to find a book for my sister's 16th birthday tomorrow. She follows series such as The Hunge..."
Hi there.
Well if she likes Percy Jackson there's a sequel series called Lost Heroes. And the author also had another 3 book series with the Kane Chronicles, but it has Egyptian gods.

[Chockeh]

Jim wrote: "Chockeh wrote: "Hello, I follow geek and sundry and occasionally watch S&L. :)


Hi, thanks for the suggestions! I probably won't go with Lost Heroes since I don't know if she actually finished the series yet. Kane Chronicles looks good, I don't know how interested she would be in the Egyptian mythology however. I really wish I could ask her, but I want it to be a surprised. xD
I'm actually leaning towards The Hobbit at this point since it's a book I'm interested in as well.

[Lyssa]

Chockeh wrote: "Jim wrote: "Chockeh wrote: "Hello, I follow geek and sundry and occasionally watch S&L. :)


Hi, thanks for the suggestions! I probably won't go with Lost Heroes since I don't know if she actually ..."

I would definetly go with the hobbit, since you are also interested in it. It would give you both something to talk about and might encourage her to try longer books like Lord of Rings later. If she expresses interest in LOTR, then just get one book at a time, makes it much less intimidating for someone who has page number issues as I call them. Let her try the first one, at her own pace and in her own time. If she doesn't finish it, fine. Some people see the box edition or the hard cover anniversary edition that has the whole story and freak. But the paper back versions or ebook version of the seperate books are much more manageable cause you can do it in small chunks.

Don't know if this will help but I hope she likes whatever book you pick for her. I love how you are encouraging her to keep reading. Good job :)

[Scott]

Hello everyone!
My name is Scott. I am a embedded software architect with a kindle full of fantasy, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic , historical fiction, technical books, mystery, thriller, and classics. My intro to science fiction was the Foundation series by Asimov followed by some Bradbury. Fantasy started with Watership Down followed by the Hobbit. I generally read four to five books at a time, with help from audible.com. Usually at least one sci-fi or fantasy, a historical fiction and classic are in the currently-reading state.

[David]

Hi everyone,
I'm David. I'm farily new to the sci-fi/fantasy genre. Hoping to find some good reading material here.

[Adrian]

Hello. I'm Adrian from Norway. I read just about everything, but have a soft spot for fantasy, SF, horror and adventure. Proud owner of way too many books and comics. Other hobbies include hunting, fishing, scubadiving and cooking. Fave fantasy books are The Chronicles of The Black Company.

[Nicolas]

Hello! My name is Nicolas. I'm a long time reader, mostly thrillers but have read science fiction and fantasy occasionally since grade 5.
I joined the group in the summer when the video podcasts started on G & S. It started me reading again after about a year and I hope to continue to get new stories to enjoy.

[Anna]

Hi! I'm Anna from Australia.

I've only recently gotten back into reading but I used to read constantly when I was in high school. Some of my favourite newly discovered authors are Jasper Fforde, Kevin Hearne and Emma Bull. I still enjoy young adult fiction though and am currently in the middle of the last Artemis Fowl novel.

Thanks to this community I already have a pile of books in the 'waiting to be read' pile. I hope to find many more!

I also collect books about dogs, mostly ones with breed lists. (I am a dog groomer so I tell myself it's money spent on 'research'). I especially like the books that have hand drawn dogs rather than photos.

[Joseph]

Hi forum, my name is Joeseph. Can't say that I've had many friends. I'd usually have my head buried behind some book or another. I read a lot of science fiction, fantasy, thriller, horror stuff but I don't limit myself to it. Finally got around to reading the strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde so that's what I'm currently reading. I'm subscribed to Geek and Sundry so I'll be following the sword and laser from here on.

[Katina]

Greetings and salutations. I've been listening to the audio podcast for months now, and missing being involved in a forum community after a long break from message boards.

I tend to be more of a fan of fantasy books, and science fiction movies and television. Then again, recently started getting into Scalzi, enjoyed the Hunger Games books, and loved Ernie Cline's Ready Player One. And of course, there's always the LOTR movies and The Princess Bride on the fantasy cinema side of things.

I write a bit, in fact have a steampunk novella coming out next year. But mostly I'm here to discuss the stuffs I'm reading among folks who don't think genre fiction is "trash." :)

My minimal claim to sci-fi fame is that I got to be on the official LOST podcast with Damon & Carlton, when they did a video chat with viewers. :)

[T.P.]

Hello, I am a fantasy reader, favourites include RA Salvatore, Robin Hobb, Elaine Cunningham, and Ursula Le Guin. I recently have tried my hand at writing.

[Rob]

Hi folks.
I have been intermittently watching the show for a few months now and always enjoy it when I can get to it. I would like to get back into reading more, and the show helped me get pointed in the right direction with Hyperion, which led me to read more of Dan Simmons books which I enjoyed. In the library I noticed Scalzi near Simmons, so that lead to the Old Man's War series.

My fave authors are C.S. Lewis - not just the Narnia series but also his other "scientifiction" as well as his theological writings. In the genre I think Zelazny's Amber series will always hold a special place. I did have a thing for the original Star Wars novels back in the day of Zahn and Stackpole too. Glad to be here and looking forward to hearing more recommendations and experiences.

[Edward]

What's sup everyone?
My name is Eddie. Very new to Sword and Laser. Starting watching the show on Geek & Sundry a few months ago. No real favorite authors yet outside of Jacqueline Carey. I like the Nobel Dead series and am currently looking for the next series that catches my interest.

[Chantal]

Hi All, I am Chantal, from Antwerp (Belgium). If sometimes I make spelling mistakes or weird sentences, I apologize but English is not my native language. I love reading Scifi and Fantasy (old school) and want to discover new talent. Hopefully, I can discover it here along with old pearls I have yet to read.

[D3a]

Hi! My name is Diego and Im a Digital Arts student at México.
I just discocered the podcast and bwcame a huge fan ! I read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, books are my main source of inspiration (you can check my drawings and stuff at cuernosdevenado.com.mx ).
I desided to join the group because I dont have any reader friends, so I never get a chance to talk about what Im reading. Im new to goodreads as well.

[Scott]

Hi! My name is Scott, and I live in Atlanta, GA. I love optimistic books with big ideas in them, which is why I keep coming back to Science Fiction. I follow this group mainly to find what to read next, and I'm grateful for your suggestions.

[Ian]

Hi! My name is Ian and i love my Swords! I used to play D&D a lot and the world just entranced me.

I just finished "The Wise Man's Fear". Gotta say I love the series.

[Aaron]

How's it going? I'm Aaron. I'm a lifelong fan of science fiction and fantasy, as well as modern american horror, and the pulps of the early and mid 20th century. My favorite authors include Patrick Rothfuss, Richard Matheson, Jim Butcher, and Robert E. Howard. I hope to be able to add my opinion to some of the discussions here, and look forward to reading along with the book club.

[Kyle]

Hey, everybody! Just bought "Old Man's War", and I am prepped to start being part of this group.

First, a little bit about me. I'm a stay at home father with two beautiful kids. I used to read quite a bit. However, without anyone to talk to about what I was reading, I would quickly lose interest.

I would have been more active earlier this year, when I had my e-reader, but sadly I lost it.

But now I'm here and ready to start.

[Diego]

Hello, I'm Diego.
I've read sci-fi and fantasy books all my life (I'm 24, btw) and only recently I've discovered this video show on Geek and Sundry, which led me to discover the podcast (which I love), which in turn led me here! I'm planning on reading along with everyone throughout 2013, as time lets me, and hopefully to add interesting things to the discussions.

[Marie]

Hi all, My name is Marie, and I'm from WI (go Pack!). I grew up with The Wheel of Time and Mercedes Lackey. Been lovin' fantasy ever since though not familiar with more recent authors.

[Marcelo]

Hello! My name's Marcelo, I'm from Brazil and I alternate the textbook reading required for my Master's with speculative fiction. I started reading of my own volition (i.e. not school-demanded books) at age nine with Perry Rhodan and got hooked.

I've found about S&L a couple of months ago and I've been lurking here in the forums ever since, and only now decided to introduce myself.

[Connie]

Hi everyone! I'm Connie and I've actually been with the group for a while now and didn't know there was an intro thread until I heard Veronica and Tom saying hi to everyone in the podcast (I'm listening from the first one and haven't caught up since the holidays started).

I've always read fantasy books but kind of went on a hiatus because of high school and college. After much debate, I bought myself a kindle out of convenience. Now I try to read whenever I'm on public transport and before I go to sleep.

[Madison]

Hey all! I've been a member for about 6 months now but have only just started participating in discussions. My name is Matthew and I'm a first year Software Development student in Australia. I've always been a massive fantasy fan but though S&L I've started reading a lot of great Sci-Fi which is brilliant.

[Brendan]

Hi! I'm Brendan from Southern California. After reading two massive books in 2012, A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings, I'm going to try and read 20 books in 2013. Here's to hopefully finding some great books from Sword and Laser!

[Joël]

Hi I'm Joël. My partner introduced me to the Sword and Laser youtube shows, and then I just had to check out the discussion forum.

I read quite a lot and some of my favorite authors are: Peter Schaap, Robin Hobb, Terry Pratchett, Robert Jordan, George RR martin and Patrick rothfuss.

[William]

Hi! I'm William.

I've been listening to and watching The Sword & Laser off and on for awhile, so I've decided to finally pop over to Goodreads and join the group.

My Sword life began in middle-school when my brother-in-law gave me a paperback box-set of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

My Laser life began in high-school when a friend gave me a box of Robert A. Heinlein's books (still haven't read them all!).

My two favorite stories are A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr. and Nausicaä of the Valley of Wind: Perfect Collection Boxed Set by Hayao Miyazaki.

I'm also a writer of words.

See you in the forums!
-william

[Richard]

Im Richard. Im a newbie when it comes to reading Sci-fi/fantasy genre of books. Normally im a picky reader so books don't come right away. Now the book im reading is book three of the Dresden Files... I sort of thought that there was no order in the books so i decided to pick one due to the stress of what book to pick. so im going to read them when I come to them. My favorite authors are Jim butcher, J.k. Rowling, Markus Zusak, Susanne Colins, Rick Riordan. My goal is to finish a Steven King novel before I die. I also want to make books about the paranormal, so that should be fun and exciting! Thanks to you guys I have the courage to write!

[Anita]

Hi everybody. I've been following geek and sundry for a while and many of the top notch shows the produce. I recently joined the Vaginal Fantasy Book Club and so it only seemed natural to join the Sword and Laser group as well since epic fantasy is what I usually read :P

I hope to find new worlds to loose myself in and also to meet wonderful new people who share my interest for fantasy literature and general nerdyness ^^

[James]

Hello, I'm James.
I've been following Sword and Laser for awhile now but haven't really had time to keep up with the book club. I'm a long time Sci-fi and Fantasy reader. I'm a huge fan of The Dresden Files and Patrick Rothfuss. I also love Ray Bradbury. I look forward to ac

[James]

Hello, I'm James.
I've been following Sword and Laser for awhile now but haven't really had time to keep up with the book club. I'm a long time Sci-fi and Fantasy reader. I'm a huge fan of The Dresden Files and Patrick Rothfuss. I also love Ray Bradbury. I look forward to actually following along!

[Ty]

Helo, I'm Ty (a.k.a. Saint Curmudgeon).
I'm a husband, father, son, college IR Director, soccer referee, reader, camper, scouter, computer geek. Trying to be kind & good to all, but often falling far short.
I love to read all kinds of books, but science fiction/fantasy is my favorite genre.

[Romana]

Hi! My name's Romana, and I was named after a Dr. Who companion (I'm so excited it's popular again! People know what I'm talking about now!) My favorite authors are Neil Gaiman, Anne McCaffrey, Simon R Green, Tolkien, Douglas Adams, and George R R Martin. I love scifi and fantasy and hope to get a chance to read along with one of the book picks this year - grad school kinda messes up scheduling. Can't wait!

[James]

Hi, I'm James. I've been reading Sci-fi and fantasy (almost exclusively) since I first picked up The Hobbit and Ender's Game when I was in 7th grade. Now, 28, I've read a good amount of books, graduated as an English major, and have been writing (unpublished) for several years.

I've been a fan of Felicia day since Buffy but for some reason didn't follow geek and sundry when it first came out. Rediscovered it in the last couple weeks and love it. Sword and laser is great and this group seems to have a lot of very smart people discussing things that I love. I hope to meet a lot of good friends here.

[Candida]

Hi. My name is candida. I haven't read a new book in a while. I've been reading the Harry Potter series to my 8 year old son. We're a little way into the last one. (I've read them all a couple of times before.) I decided to make some time for myself and read along with the Sword and Laser club (and maybe Vaginal Fantasy, too.) I got John Scalzi's Old Man's War yesterday and have already gotten through half of it. I thought it would take me two weeks to read, not two days. I'm looking forward to reading with you all and discussing the reads with you.

[Bwcbwc]

Hi I'm Bruce. Something of an oldster here. Grew up on SF in the 70's reading my father's old collection of Analog and Astounding from the 50's and 60's (original serializations of "Weyr Search" and "Dune" among others), as well as SF books from the school library. Tastes are eclectic, ranging from traditional SF like Brin's uplift saga, to Stephenson's "Diamond Age" (underrated vs. Snowcrash IMHO). Currently mired in the 1632 alternate universe. On the fantasy side, my favorite is probably P.C. Hodgell's "Godstalk" and its sequels. Others include Pratchett, Tolkein, Robin Hobb, and even Harry Potter.

Oh and Lois M. Bujold excels in both genres. Between Barrayar and Chalion I love her worlds and characters, even if the moral compass is sometimes simplistic.

P.S. bwcbwc is pronounced "book-book".

[Jim]

Hi I'm Jim.
Always been a nerd, played AD&D in the 80s. First fantasy series I ever read was Narnia, followed by LotR. Love Game of Thrones, hate Wheel of Time. Also love anything by Robin Hobb. Recently, really enjoyed Brent Weeks' trilogy, and Rothfuss' Kingmaker books (esp. the first one).
On the sci-fi side, big fan of Vernor Vinge, Asimov, Clarke, Frank Herbert, and more recently Doctorow. Also like David Brin and Gregory Beneford. Just bought 'Old Man's War', Kindle, after watching my first Sword and Laser episode. Eager to get into a new sci-fi series, it's been awhile!