Introduction and welcome thread! Showing 3,201-3,250 of 4,412

[[deleted user]]

Hi Abi,welcome to the S&L group.

[Justin]

Hey there everyone, my names Justin, a lifelong reader and am really into sci-fi, and fantasy novels. Only found out about goodreads recently, so feel like I'm a bit late to the party, but already I'm hooked.
Have just finished reading World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War and am currently trying to avoid the movie:)

[[deleted user]]

Hi Justin,welcome to the S&L group.

I read World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War,great book (I thought),just saw the movie-no comparison.

[Carolina]

Hi Abigail! welcome to tthe group. Im also a student (PhD) at the moment. What are you studying?

[Corey]

hey guys, i'm Corey, avid book reader, mostly science fiction and fantasy, some of my favorite authors are robert E howard, gene wolfe, brandon sanderson and allan dean foster. my brother in law recommended this group so figured i'd join up

[[deleted user]]

Hi Corey,welcome to the S&L group.

[[deleted user]]

Hi all. I'm Mike. I read mostly scifi/fantasy but do read some horror on occasion. I tend to read large books and series. I have read all the Dune books and have one left in the Wheel of Time series.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Mike,welcome to the S&L group.

[Justin]

Hey Charlton, thanks for the welcome, yeah think it may well be one of my favorite books ever, is almost perfect. Having seen the trailer, can just tell its not going to be the same as the book, which is sad, as i think it would have made an incredible film, or maybe tv show. Am sure will check the movie out but might just have to call it random zombie movie:)

[Scott]

Killian wrote: "Hi, I'm Killian, from Ireland (and yes we do have internet here, we're not a third world country). I just finished The Sign of the Unicorn, the third book in Roger Zelazny's brilliant Chronicles of..."

Welcome Killian
A few years ago I thought I was the only person out there with a love for fantasy but also an Agatha Christie addiction but I have found it's actually quite common - I can't explain it but maybe we all just like those tight, well plotted, mystery puzzles - anyway...welcome

[[deleted user]]

Hi Killian,welcome to the S&L group.

[Melinda]

HI, I'm Melinda, I've been lurking around here for a few years now (ever since the first Rothfuss interview). I love fantasy and sci fi, both provide a much needed prism through which to view our crazy, beautiful, messed up world.
Favorite authors include Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, Robin Hobb, Phillip K Dick and Hermann Hesse.
Much thanks and love to Veronica and Tom for all the great reads over the past few years, especially the books I would never have known of otherwise.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Melinda,welcome to the S&L group.

[Doug]

Hello, I'm Doug,
Been reading Science Fiction and Fantasy since I was a kid. Some of my favorite authors include Kevin J Anderson, David Eddings, Leigh Eddings, Douglas Adams, Brent Weeks, and many more. Just finished reading Neuromancer, and just started Count Zero. Really enjoying the cyberpunk genre. I just bought a kindle and i love it. I hope amazon puts gibson's burning chrome short story collection on kindle, or I can find a used copy.


Doug.

[Scott]

Hi Doug and Gwen - welcome

[DonKelly]

Hey folks! Just popping in to introduce myself. I'm Don. Long time lover of books. Began with sci-fi/ fantasy but have recently in the last few years started with some history, crime fiction and mystery/thriller type stuff.
Been listening to S&L for a little while now.. joined GoodReads a couple months ago. Figured I'd give the Group a try.
Authors I never pass up on the shelves: Robert B. Parker, Lawrence Block, Terry Prachett, W.E.B. Griffith (my Uncle introduced me to his stuff), Kathy Reiches, Anne McCaffery, aw heck there are quite a few and I can't think of them all at the moment. Anyway, happy to be aboard, I'll be lurking about.

[Jacob]

Hi I'm Jacob, from Australia :)
Big fantasy fan, particularly Harry Potter and ASoIaF. I also enjoy Robin Hobb, Fiona McIntosh, and the Narnia books. I'm yet to read The Lord of the Rings, embarrassing I know :/, but I think I'll love it when I eventually get around to it.
Never been a big fan of SciFi but hoping I can get to try some from here along with other types of Fantasy.

[Phil]

Hi,

I used to read a lot, but fell out of favour a bit as life and uni and stuff got in the way. Got back into it again last christmas when I received the forst 3 books in Song of Ice and Fire. After finishing the entire series by mid-April, I got back into reading a lot more.

Just had an early christmas (out of the country for the 25th so had a mini-christmas yesterday instead!) and received a Kindle from my parents. Thought it'd be the perfect time to get into even more books, especially ones I'd never have thought of buying previously.

RE: the podcast, I've listened a couple of times before, but there seem to be a lot of video episodes. Is this always the case? As I usually listen to podcasts while doing other things, so can't really watch at the same time.

[Rob, Roberator]

Phil wrote: "RE: the podcast, I've listened a couple of times before, but there seem to be a lot of video episodes. Is this always the case? As I usually listen to podcasts while doing other things, so can't really watch at the same time"

Last year, S&L did a video show on YouTube for geek &sundry. They didn't get renewed and have slowly been rereleasing the videos on their website.

They recently did a sucessful kickstarter for a second video season which will come out next year.

They will be author profiles/interviews like they were doing at the end of season 1 while the book discussion and news will remain on the podcast.

[Scott]

Hello I'm Scott. Love the podcast and final joined the group

[Blake]

Hello! I'm Miss Blake. I read everything and everything except for e books and I refuse to get a kindle. Scifi and fantasy have always been one of my first loves-I have a massive Narnia map on my wall given to me when I was seven- and I still re-read them every year. I cried when Robert Jordan died and thought 15 years were wasted and I cried at George RR Martin's the Red wedding and thought that Robb deserved it...
I also love British children's fiction: Enid Blyton, Arthur Ransome, Dianna Wynne-Jones, Susan Cooper etc)
Historical romances and biographies...
I'll read it all!

[Diego]

Hi! I'm Diego, an aspiring author with a book nearing completion, and loves all the nebula goodness. I like fantasy and sci-fi. I listen to all of Sword and Lasers podcasts and love the show!

[Ben]

Guy wrote: "Hi everyone. My name is Guy Severn. I am a Science-Fantasy writer from Auckland, New Zealand. I have some short stories published in Brisbane and write for an indie gaming company in Europe. I am c..."
Welcome Guy! I'm in Brisbane as well.

[J.L.]

James Lawrence here. I read in 3 different incarnations:

For myself: classics and YA fantasy (favorite recent reads were Brothers Karamazov and Starcrossed by Elizabeth Bunce)

Aloud to my kids, age 10 & 12: mostly middle-grade and YA fantasy (favorite recent reads were Goblin Quest by Jim Hines and The Hero's Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy)

Aloud to my wife: mostly thrillers these days, recently we've been reading Preston & Child's Agent Pendergast books. I think the favorites that I ever read to her were Shogun and anything by PG Wodehouse.

I'm also a huge historical fiction buff, but only if it's in a sword/sorcery type vein, no icky romance.

I haven't touched sci-fi since I was young, but lots of sword & sorcery stuff over the last few years. My all-time favorites would be Tolkien, Lloyd Alexander, Susan Cooper and Terry Pratchett, but there are so many great books out there it's hard to choose!

I am also in the process of completing a novel of my own that I will shamelessly promote in the appropriate forum when (if) I ever finish it.

Nice to meet y'all!

[Paul]

Hi, my name is Paul

I have been listening to the podcast for about a year and I

[Paul]

Hi, my name is Paul
I have listened to the audio podcast for about a year and I am really looking forward to the return of the video segments that were on Geek and Sundry. Favorite authors include Jim Butcher and I have recently discovered Patrick Rothfuss (I know....better late than never).

[Rich]

Hey... just started listening/catching up on S&L podcasts. Looking forward to debating/discussing the current reads.

I've read the FAQ but... should I be wary of making negative criticism?

(Don't want to be "that guy" with my first posts in case I'm not a fan of the book(s))

[Robert]

Hi all, my name's Rob and I'm a roleplaying gamer and aspiring writer.

I've been on the group for about a year, but haven't participated in the book club because I mostly had my own list of books I wanted to read for the year. I've decided I'll try and join in this year though.

I go through about 40-50 books a year, and enjoy sci-fi and fantasy, mostly urban fantasy for the latter, but I've been getting more into epic fantasy of late. I also enjoy crime novels and thrillers.

My favourite authors at the moment are Brandon Sanderson, Ian Rankin and Robert Jordan. I'm currently reading through Patrick Ness's 'The Knife of Never Letting Go'.

[Joe]

Hey, all.

I'm a long-time listener and watcher, but a first time participant. Although I've been introduced to a few authors and books featured and discussed on Sword & Laser, I've never read a book concurrently with the group.

Since I loved the (however little) Samuel R. Delany I've read (my first read was his short story "Aye, and Gomorrah" in the Harlan Ellison edited and groundbreaking 1967 anthology, Dangerous Visions), I figured what better opportunity to participate in the group than with the January Laser pick, The Einstein Intersection--a book I've wanted to read for years! A two birds, one laser kind of thing.

Looking forward to this, especially since I've never actually been either an online or in-person book club.

Best,
Joe

[Henry]

Hello!
We are Dmitry Gromov and Oleg Ladyzhensky, the professional SF & Fantasy writers from Ukraine writing under the joint penname HENRY LION OLDIE.

(Prevention: English is not our native language. On the whole we write and speak in Russian. Our English is not perfect enough, so, please, excuse us for some possible mistakes.)

We’d like to introduce ourselves to this community.
We’re the professional writers since 1996. From 1991 to December 2013 we had published more than 220 hard cover books, including reprints and translations from Russian to French, Polish, Lithuanian and Ukrainian, or more than 50 original books (first prints); and some anthologies. More than 30 novels, 14 novelettes and more than 70 short stories were published up until now. At “EuroCon-2006” International European SF & Fantasy Convention H. L. Oldie got a title of The Best European SF & Fantasy Writer of 2006…
But our books never before had been published in the English-speaking world. So, in this huge literary world we’re only beginners, as many others.
We hope to publish our first fantasy book in English in January 2014 at Amazon and Smashwords in eBook format. The book was translated from Russian to English by our Canadian friends and professionally edited by philologists from DePaul University, Chicago, US.
Our official English WEB-site: http://oldie-worlds.com/news.html
We hope, nobody here will have any objections if we’ll put more detailed information about our book in this community when the book will appear at Amazon and Smashwords?

Happy New Year to all of you!

Sincerely yours,
Henry Lion Oldie.

[Seth]

Hi Folks,

Been lurking (benignly) here for years and I have kept my opinions and my great enjoyment of the show and discussion to myself. I'm a life-long Sci-fi and Fantasy reader, but probably lean towards the Sword side of things. I still remember the day I decided that reading the Hobbit in sixth grade was easier than talking to girls, but thankfully I found out later you can do both. Being a young comic book reader probably led me straight into the arms of imaginative fiction, and I regret nothing. As a young-ling I started with Tolkein, Asimov, Tad Williamsm Ursula K. Leguin, Robert Jordan, Stephen King, Weis & Hickman, etc. Nowadays my favorites include George R.R. Martin (of course), Neal Stephenson, Kurt Vonnegut, Terry Pratchet, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Robin Hobb, Joe Abercrombie, Lev Grossman, Joe Hill, James S.A. Corey, Hugh Howey, and more. I live out in the Pioneer Valley of Western Mass and work at an internet company called Topatoco that sells merch for web-comics and pod-casters, so I live on the internet more than part time. I'm psyched to come out of the shadows...HI!

Seth

[Erika]

Hi to everyone!
I found Sword and Laser through the Vaginal Fantasy Book Club and I am unbelievably happy I did. I love listening to your podcasts at work, thank you for keeping the older ones up on your website! Wonderful hosts and great discussions all on topics I can't get enough of. I am so glad your kickstarter campaign goals were met and we get to see both of you back on set. :)

[Loren]

Hi all. My name is Loren and I enjoy reading books in general, but spec fic and fantasy especially. I also really enjoy Brit lit. Some of my favorite authors currently are PKD, Charles Stross, Charles DeLint, Kelly Link, Erin Morgenstern, Heinlein, and William Gibson. This is the first group that I've joined here on Goodreads, and I look forward to having many insightful threads with you guys. I'm currently reading "The Hunger Games," based on the recommendation of my girlfriend.

[RuthAnn]

Loren wrote: "Hi all. My name is Loren and I enjoy reading books in general, but spec fic and fantasy especially. I also really enjoy Brit lit. Some of my favorite authors currently are PKD, Charles Stross, Char..."

LOVE your profile pic :)

[Loren]

RuthAnn wrote: "Loren wrote: "Hi all. My name is Loren and I enjoy reading books in general, but spec fic and fantasy especially. I also really enjoy Brit lit. Some of my favorite authors currently are PKD, Charle..."

Lol! Thanks. Jesus loved the dinosaurs...to death!!

[Shona]

Hi all.
I'm Shona. I read most things but usually Crime, Thrillers a little Romance but predominantly Fantasy. Favourite authors: Robert Jordan, Raymond Feist, Robin Hobb, David Eddings, RA Salvatore and Janny Wurst To name a few.
Have recently been reading a lot of Indie Fantasy on my Kindle (some very good, some not so) but will usually give Anything a chance.

[disastercouch]

Hey, my name is Benjamin, I've been hearing about this podcast/group for awhile and having seen the next couple books are Sam Delany and Ursula leGuin I decided to jump right in! looking forward to reading and discussion.

fave authors: Iain Banks, Jorge Luis Borges, Umberto Eco, Jonathan Lethem, Robert Heinlein

twitter @disastercouch

[Andrea]

I can't remember if I posted here or not.

But my name is Lou. I wasn't much of a fantasy or scifi fan until recently. I've begun reading the Hobbit and the LotR series. I even own a copy of the Simarillion!

I also own Terry Brooks' series.


I'm more of a fan of fantasy (love me some elves) over scifi, but I enjoy both. All thanks to this show!

[Andrew]

Hi, I'm Andrew. I just started listening to Sword and Laser after hearing Tom interviewed on another podcast. Joining in with the monthly reading and discussion seemed like a good way to get into interesting conversations about books, so here I am.

I've just finished Stephen King's first Dark Tower book, and haven't decided what to read next from the two-large pile of books waiting for me.

[Nikki]

Hey everyone,
I am Nikki and new to the group (and to Goodreads), but am a longtime fantasy reader. I am also newly a fantasy author as well.

Favorite authors: Rothfuss, Jordan, Goodkind (only in the beginning), and Hobb (namely Farseer, Tawny Man, and Liveship Traders series). I like many more, however don't feel quite ready to put them in my favorites!

[Michelle]

Hi, I'm Michelle. I love fantasy, urban fantasy, sci-fi, true crime, mysteries, paranormal, horror, some nonfiction, poetry, and probably several other genres I've forgotten at the moment. There are many authors I love, far too many to begin to name. I found out about this group from Chuck Wendig. Love him. He is one of the few people who can curse and turn it into high art.

I not only read voraciously, I once taught college, worked as a journalist, editor, and grant writer, though not all at once. I also wrote poetry and short stories. I'm hoping to write more poetry and fiction this year. I've been blogging for about a year, mostly to post book reviews. I feel if authors can work so hard to write for my entertainment, I can at least post a review on their behalf.

[Allan]

Hey all!

Name's Al, I'm an author with a passion for fantasy and scifi. My library is loaded with the greats: Martin, Hickman, Salvatore, oh and some Stephen King. Current favorites/obsessions are Kevin Hearne and Michael J. Sullivan.

I also run a literary magazine featuring soon-to-be-famous authors called Uncharted Frontier EZine.

Glad to join here and can't wait for the Kevin Hearne interview!

[B.E.]

Hallo!

Ronny--at your service. I live in San Francisco, and I'm a blossoming writer and SFF fan.

I suppose my all time favorites are Dune, Peter Pan, A Wrinkle in Time, (obligatory Lord of the Rings/Harry Potter), Watchmen, and many others...

I'm just hoping to join an SFF community and make friends, especially one based in SF, as I can hopefully attend gatherings from time to time.

Also those aren't my real glasses in my photo

Cheers

[Danny]

Howdy. As directed by the FAQ, I'm here to introduce myself. My name is Danny. I recently started listening to Sword & Laser and thought I'd join the fun over here.

[William]

Hello there. I'm Will. I love the podcast, and thought it was about time I joined up over here.

Just here to chat about books, really, and perhaps to find something new to read.

[Trevor]

Hello all I'm Trevor, been following sword and laser for a while now and just decided to get on goodreads, absolutely love it.

[A.J.]

Hello there I am a fantasy author. No, I am not here to promote my self. Just looking for good discussions with fantasy lovers. Right now I am reading Moth

[Jeremiah]

I am Jeremiah Kaye Jensen new to Sword and Laser. Thank you all and I am both LDS and in the Army in questions on these topics will be helped with as best i can i love to help.

[Marc]

Greetings fellow Fantasy and Sci Fi Buffs! I'm Marc. I cut my teeth on anything that was Dragon lance, Forgotten Realms, Terry Brooks, Gaiman, Gibson, King...but as i aged, gained education (several really boring degrees in legal and policy fields) i felt i should move away and read more mature materials...but fuck that...i still love a sword n sorcery novel, a dragon novel, a new form of magic and major mayhem created by various humanoids! I try to read whenever i have the time...hopefully for pleasure...I do feel we are in a fine time for our beloved genre...many up and coming authors fine tuning their narration and story design, along with the masters to are still at the peak of their craft. I look forward to reading and discussing our favorite authors, books, and learning more about everyone as we move forward.

[Yassine]

Hi! I'm Yassine. I'm Moroccan and live in Belgium. Father of 2. Huge Audible and Fantasy fan (I discovered LoTR when I came to study in Europe @ 17 and it changed my life :-))
My favorite authors include among others Brandon Sanderson, Modesitt, Scott Card, Robert Jordan and many many others.
Looking forward to reading with you!