Introduction and welcome thread! Showing 3,101-3,150 of 4,411

[Kathryn]

Thanks for the welcome, Sean! :)

[CarlosF]

Charlton wrote: "Hi Carlos,welcome to the S&L group."

Thank you Charlton!

[[deleted user]]

Hi Kathryn,welcome to the S&L group.

[Name Less]

Hi,

I'm Wil.

I decided to give GoodReads a try, primarily for the catalogging service, but finally began using it when I listened to Sword and Laser podcasts. I am one of those people Tom doesn't like that can devour three books in a week. GoodReads solves the problem of searching for more books.

I have also been itching to write review to both crystalize the ideas for myself and share thoughts.

Though I may not always read the group pick, I'm excited to engage with the Sword and Laser community.

[Laura]

Hi! I'm an avid reader of all fantasy, as well as an author of fantasy (only urban so far). I'm married with two kids, have a tattoo in Greek on my shoulder, and I have the sweetest tooth that there ever was. Hide your brownies!

My debut novel will be available on Smashwords and Amazon November 29th. It's a quirky urban fantasy called The Complete Guide to Being Evil, and it's about a young, impetuous mage named Kalara who gets in trouble with a local necromancer. And instead of leaving town, laying low for a while, or trying to appease him, she makes a deal with a devil, to gain more power and win her little magi war.

If this sounds interesting to you, here are a few links to other places you can find me on the webs:

https://www.facebook.com/laurastephen...
https://twitter.com/LauraSFantasy
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdpVan...

[Ludo]

Hi, I'm Ludo. I have been a SF reader for as long as I can remember (although I read a lot of other stuff as well). I came here through the podcast to join the group. I want to try reading along with the next book and see how it adds to my reading experience...I like a lot of writers but If I have to choose three: Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, Tim Powers, Dan Simmons, Larry Niven, Frederik Pohl, Iain Banks, Greg Bear...and yup, that was more than three....

[[deleted user]]

Wil wrote: "Hi,

I'm Wil.

I decided to give GoodReads a try, primarily for the catalogging service, but finally began using it when I listened to Sword and Laser podcasts. I am one of those people Tom doesn'..."

Hi Wil,welcome to the S&L group.

[[deleted user]]

Laura wrote: "Hi! I'm an avid reader of all fantasy, as well as an author of fantasy (only urban so far). I'm married with two kids, have a tattoo in Greek on my shoulder, and I have the sweetest tooth that ther..."

Hi Laura,welcome to the S&L group.

[Andreas]

Hello, I'm Andreas.

I read science fiction for the most part. While I enjoy fantasy (as well as fantasy masquerading as science fiction!), there's nothing I like more than reading a long, intricate science fiction novel that not only has a good story and interesting characters, but respects the laws of nature and creates a believable future that *could* happen. My favorite author is Alastair Reynolds, hands down!

I've followed Sword and Laser through Geekandsundry for about a year. So, now that I've started using my goodreads account I thought this might be a place of interest.

[Laura]

Thanks Charlton!

Andreas, welcome!

[[deleted user]]

Hi Andreas,welcome to the S&L group.

[Viola]

Hi!
I'm Viola. I became a fan of fantasy at age 14-15 when I more or less devoured the Story of Belgariad by David Eddings. I've been a sci-fi and anime fan for much longer as I watched an anime series called Starzinger when I was 5. Currently I’m reading way too much urban fantasy because the fantasy genre seems overrun by dark and grim stories. I’m more interested in watching sci-fi series than reading them. And this is pretty much everything you need to know.

[Laura]

Viola wrote: "Hi!
I'm Viola. I became a fan of fantasy at age 14-15 when I more or less devoured the Story of Belgariad by David Eddings. I've been a sci-fi and anime fan for much longer as I watched an anime se..."

Welcome!

[[deleted user]]

Hi Viola,welcome to the S&L group.
Have you read The Malloreon, Vol. 1: Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda,The Malloreon, Vol. 2: Sorceress of Darshiva, The Seeress of Kell?

[Viola]

Charlton wrote: "Hi Viola,welcome to the S&L group.
Have you read The Malloreon, Vol. 1: Guardians of the West, King of the Murgos, Demon Lord of Karanda,The Malloreon, Vol. 2: Sorceress of Darshiva, The Seeress of..."

Yes, I read them after I had finished the Belgariad. I also read the books about Sparhawk.

[Leo]

Hello, I'm Leo, huge Sci-fi and Fiction fan. Read (or listen) to a lot of books but have no one to talk about them, mainly because I'm Brazilian and there are a lot of good books not available here yet. How would you suggest I start following the podcast? From the begining or just start listening to the last ones? I don't know how I stayed so long away from this, since I'm a fan of Veronica and Tom all the way back from the early days of BOL...

[[deleted user]]

Hi Leo,welcome to the S&L group.

[Emma]

Hello everyone, I'm a thirty something french woman living in england nowdays. I'm a light fantasy and fantasy reader, but i also indulge in epic saga. My SF exposure is limited bradbury, Orwell and Vernes.
My favorite author would be Pratchett, Gaiman and Gould, but i'm always looking to widen my horizon.
I'm coming to sword and laser after following the geek and sundry webcast and i do look forward to the podcast as well. hope everyone is having a nice day.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Emma,welcome to the S&L group.
Thank you,and I hope you have a good day as well.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Sarah,welcome to the S&L group.

[Ribbon]

Hi all. I found Sword and Laser through Geek and Sundry. I'm sorry the show is no longer on and hope they succeed greeting their new YouTube channel up and running.

I have been reading for as long as I can remember - the first book I read on my own was called "My puppy is born" when I was 2 and to this day I still want a puppy named Sausage.

I will read anything and there are a lot of books I took a chance on that I really enjoyed. My favorite genres are SciFi and Fantasy though so I am really excited to follow along with this group.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Jillian,welcome to the S&L group.

[Zan]

Hey all. I was a fan of the show on Geek and Sundry and now that I have some free time, I thought I'd be active over here. I'm the girl who, in elementary school, probably boggled her teachers by bringing in a 1000+ page novel (The Autobiography of Henry VIII, by Margaret George). I'm a fan of all kinds of novels, really, but I definitely have a soft spot for science fiction and fantasy. Probably comes from my mother sitting me down to watch the season premiere of Star Trek: TNG when I was a kid.

I'm the type who reads books when she can and listens to them when she can't. Usually when I'm leveling on some video game that requires only cursory attention.

[Jon]

Hi Sword and Laser, I'm Jon
I love Fantasy & Sci-fi and actually just published my first novel, "End of the Beginning"... which, yes, has swords, lasers... and superpowers (which, are equally deserving of some attention in any sci-fi/fantasy board - whether of mutant, metaphysical, magical or other origin). Can't wait to get to know some people on this thread. Talk to you then.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Alexa,welcome to the S&L group.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Zan,welcome to the S&L group.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Jon,welcome to the S&L group.

[James (ObservantRaven)]

Hey All,

My name is James and I'm from Northern Ireland. I recently started listening to your podcasts and I think they are brilliant.
I'm currently in the process of reading the Mistborn trilogy and I'm loving it. Currently I find myself mostly reading fantasy books but I wanna find some good sci-fi as well.
Looking forward to talking to you all and reading alongside with your monthly books

[Pernille]

Hi, I'm Penny.
I'm a master's student in astrophysics with far too little time for non-thesis related reading, a great shame, as it has been one of my favourite pass times since I was a kid.
I've mostly read sci-fi and my favourite authors include Arthus C. Clarke and H.G. Wells. However, I'm also fond of fantasy and classic mysteries. I hope this group can give me a bit of inspiration to prioritise my leisure reading more.

[[deleted user]]

Hi James,welcome to the S&L group.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Penny,welcome to the S&L group.

[Mason]

Hello my friends. My Name is Mason Elliott.

I'm an SF&F fan and convention goer. I read widely, and I enjoy both the sword and the laser side of things. I am also a published author with two SF books out currently, Naero's Run and Naero's Gambit.

Right now I'm reading Skirmishes by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, and then Boneshaker by Cherie Priest. Looking forward to joining the discussion with fen of like mind.

Cheers,

Mason

[Giacomo]

Hey everyone,
I'm Giacomo, a PhD student in physics, definitely more of a sword than laser book addict.

Among my favorites (I could probably list authors all night long, but I think it's better to just mention a few), Terry Goodkind, Jaqueline Carey, Karen Miller and, to honor my laser part, Dan Simmons.

I'm halfway through the Mistborn trilogy (great stuff by the way), and looking forward to Bram Stoker's Dracula when I'm done (unless I find something I absolutely MUST read right away in this group!).

[[deleted user]]

Hi Mason,welcome to the S&L group.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Giacomo,welcome to the S&L group.

[Rob]

hi, my name is Rob. I was recently introduced to sword and laser on youtube from geek and sundry. I only in the last couple of years got into reading scifi/fantasy. before that I just watched movies and tv shows played D&D as a kid and love video games especially elder scrolls games, then I ended up with a lot of free time and discovered books once again. before i'd only read C.S.Lewis and Tolkein as well as anything star wars and forgotten realms. my favorite authors are Steven Erikson, Ian Esselmont, Robert Jordan,Joe Abercrombie,Scott Lynch,and Michael J Sullivan. just started reading some of Orson Scott Card as well.

[Scott]

Hi!

I'm Scott, a mechanical engineer living in Colorado. I read more sword than laser, but will read just about anything.

Currently finished Cloud Atlas, and working up my gumption to start Infinite Jest.

Favorite Authors are: Neil Gaiman, Brandon Sanderson, Robert Jordon, Orson Scott Card, Patrick Rothfuss, Shakespeare...

[[deleted user]]

Hi Rob,welcome to the S&L group.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Scott,welcome to the S&L group.

[Tyler]

Hey guys, my name is Tyler Leslie! I'm a science fiction author and the creator of the Ancient Armada series. Ancient Armada: Book One. I look forward to discussing epic things with you guys!

[Jason]

Hello. Name is Jason. I'm from and live in the US. Started my SF&F journey as an early teen with Dragonflight and most recently finished up Ender's Game. Favorite authors of mine in this genre include Peter F. Hamilton,John Scalzi, Patrick Rothfuss, Joe Abercrombie

[Diann]

Veronica wrote: "Hey everyone! A new member pointed out to me that we don't have an introduction thread, where users can say hello, speak about what they hope to get out of this group, and mention what authors and ..."

Hello! My name is Diann T. Read and I am an author. I am currently working on a new series of YA books with the first of my 7th Shaman books to be released in February 2014. It is titled "Running from the Gods". My mentors include David Farland and Orson Scott Card.

[Holli]

Hi, my name is Holli. I just joined and I'm looking forward to finding new series to obsessively read. None of my friends read sci-fi or fantasy so I'm really excited about joining.

[Inigo]

Hi all :D

I'm Inigo. My name is actually Jon but I go by Inigo as I picked up the nickname from my love of the Princess Bride and have gone by that nickname for a couple of decades now lol.

I'm new here but have been reading fantasy my whole life. I've been on goodreads a while but this is my first venture into the groups. I was hoping to find some discussions on some trends I've been seeing in stories the last few years...some things I like (like the optimism and sheer fun of Harry Potter) and some things i've foundn quite disturbing (such as how people are eating up the Hunger Games...which I find downright appalling).

Anyway, just wanted to check in first and say hello. I look forward to hearing/reading a lot of your thoughts on things.

[Shawn]

Good day everyone! I started listening to Tom Merritt's tech podcasts way back. On and off I listen to this podcast as well.

Question I'd like to through out there: There is a book I was reading some review of. I thought I'd mention it incase anyway knows it.

It's about a god/spirit of a place (tree or lake) who was either killed, or wakes as a mortal woman or man. She/he must regain their powers to protect the people living around the place (tree or lake).

I think it was written by a minority author. (Non-white, maybe non-male.) Does anyone recognize that?

[[deleted user]]

Hi Tyler,Jason,Diann,Holli,Inigo,and Shawn welcome to the S&L group.

[Beth]

Hi everyone. I just realized that I haven't posted here. I love fantasy/sci fi in all its forms - books, tv, gaming. It's awesome to have a place to talk about those loves since I don't have many nerd friends in RL. :)

[[deleted user]]

Hi Beth,you're more than welcome here at the S&L group.

[Carolina]

Hi Beth, welcome to the group.

[Sam]

Greetings and Well Met
I am Sam. I have been reading for a very long time. My main focus has been science fiction with diversions into urban fantasy, alternative history.