The Sword and Laser discussion
Introduction and welcome thread!
Greetings! I'm J. David Clarke, Goodreads insists upon calling me J. but you can call me David if you like. I read and write fantasy, science fiction, and YA fiction. A few of my favorite authors are Gene Wolfe, Stephen R. Donaldson, Stephen King, and Neil Gaiman.Friend me, and drop by my profile to check out my books and blog if you like. Thanks!
Hello! I'm Kelly. I've been listening to the podcast and reading along with the book picks for a few months. I also listened to the entire back-catalog of podcasts, in order to find out what books I missed that I should catch up on! (Don't worry, I'm not trying to read them all - just the ones that were spoken of the most highly or sounded most interesting! [it's still a lot])
Aloha! I'm Jenelle (and I'm not from Hawaii, I just like saying, "Aloha!") and I've been a fantasy fan ever since my Dad read me "The Hobbit" for the first time when I was six or seven years old. I grew to love sci-fi after he read me "A Wrinkle in Time" and I've been devouring books of both genres ever since.A FEW of my favorite authors are: JRR Tolkien, Timothy Zahn, Terry Brooks, Stephen R. Lawhead, Margaret Weis/Tracy Hickman, C.S. Lewis, Patricia C. Wrede, and Anne Elisabeth Stengl. (obviously not an exhaustive list...)
I also write fantasy and am forging ahead into sci-fi with my latest project.
I enjoy talking to people about my favorite books, and hope to be able to do that here. :) I will apologize in advance, though, I'm a bit sporadic about goodreads, some months I'm crazy involved and others I'm ridiculously absent. I have two very young daughters (5 and 2) and they keep me rather busy.
Hi! I'm Joaquin, from Mexico City. Since I was twelve I became a devoted, lifelong, craving SF&F reader. Everything started with The Neverending Story, so I normally quote this book as my absolute favorite in the genre.I'm a bit slanted towards the 'cozy' side of 'sword' novels (i.e. Tolkien, Eddings, Feist, Hobb) than the darker one that seems to be the choice these days, mainly because I'm still too attached to the hero's journey.
In Laser I can read everything, but I too prefer Space Operas and Planetary Romances over Hard SF.
Hello!I'm Carol. I recently moved from SF to Austin, TX. I've worked in video games and UX research for consumer electronics. Although I wouldn't consider myself hardcore, I've always been drawn to sci-fi and fantasy stories. And I'm looking forward to reading new books and meeting all of you! Yes, YOU!
Hi! I'm Thiago, from Brazil. I have been lurking for since I discovered the group via Geek & Sundry back in 2012 (yeah, took me a while to post, I'm weird like that. I'm a huge fun of the Sword but I don't ever shy away from some good Laser. There are many authors that I love, Tolkien, Druon, Gaiman, Zimmer, Le Guin just to name a few, but my absolute favorite would be Lovecraft. Well, I'm meaning to read along all of the books this year and hopefully participate in the discussions.
Oh, and you guys are awesome! All of you!
Hi all, I've been a member of the group for a while, but never got around to posting here. So I thought I would introduce myself. I'm a Software Engineer from Florida and have been reading Scifi and fantasy since I was a kid.My favorite author as a kid was Andre Norton. I devoured her Galactic Patrol stories and couldn't get enough of her Witch World series.
My favorite Authors these days are probably Steven Erikson and K. J. Parker.
Well-met everyone. I'm Brad aka Elvenwrath. I'm read a good deal of fantasy over the years. Game of Thrones and The Malazan Book of the Fallen have definitely been among my favorites. The wonder and adventure I have experienced as a result of this hobby have enriched my life immeasurably. I look forward to finding new series to read from you good people.
Authors I love: Stephen Brust, Connie Willis, Neil Gaiman, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, Roger Zelazny, Brian Michael Bendis, Ben Aaronovitch, Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, Lawrence Miles.Series that I love: Butcher's Dresden Files (Jim borrowed my wife's name - and personality - for Karrin Murphy), Cherryh's Foreigner, Valente's Fairyland, Novik's Temeraire, Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards, Rothfus's Kingkiller.
Best books I've read in the last couple of years: Alif the Unseen, Ancillary Justice, Bridge of Birds, Among Others, Ready Player One, Zoo City, The Curse of Chalion, Cloud Atlas. (See all those Sword & Laser picks in there? Thanks, S&L!
Turn-offs include plague stories (including infectious zombie stories), survival stories, most horror stories, and post-apocalyptic settings. I find those things depressing to read about, even in fiction.
I think he did do the whole series, but for some reason audible doesn't have them. It also doesn't have the ones read by Douglas himself, those were always my favorites.
Hello, Sword and laser folk!My name is Evan! I'm new to this group, kinda new to good reads, and recently found out that Audiobooks are the absolute best way for me to consume literature!
Favorite authors; Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Roger Zelazny, J.K. Rowking, Patrick Rothfuss. Stephen King.
Favorite books; American Gods! Harry Potter Series, Amber Series, Discworld Series, Enders Game, The Warlord Chronicles (Bernard Cornwell), The Space Odyssey series(except for the 4th book), Robots me Dawn series.
Shit, I kinda have a thing for series. Any way, I'm excited to join this group, make some new friends, and start read some amazing books!
Hi, I'm Jon. I've been a member of this group for a bit and just been lurking. For the last month or two I've really gotten into reading. I feel like I need to make up for lost time. I'm into Sci-Fi, Fantasy and post apocalyptic books. My favorite book is Ender's Game. I recently read Wool and Shift by Hugh Howey, and loved them. Now I'm working my way through all his books.
I'm always looking for new books to read. If you're into the same kinds of books as me let's be friends!
That's strange. Was wondering why I was getting notifications for this thread. For some reason a comment i posted in another thread came here instead. At any rate, welcome new folks. Now off to the thread To repost, wonder where it will go this time?
So, I recently joined this group due to exposure from Geek and Sundry and my love of reading, fantasy, and scifi. I was prompted to introduce myself when commenting on an interesting topic below so here I am!My name is Lisa and I'm an elementary school teacher, which means I tend to read a lot of children's and YA books because I have access to a lot of them. I actually really enjoy some of the fantasy/scifi written for those ages a lot but I also enjoy books written for grown-ups, ha. My to-read list grows ever longer but I love learning about new, great reads so here I am! :)
Hi, I'm Stuart, I used to be a pretty avid reader but studies have gotten most of my brain space lately. I'm both a sci fi and fantasy fan but found lately I'm a bit burned out on fantasy. I'm a fan of Iain M. Banks, Jim Butcher and Richard K. Morgan. Hopibg the monthly picks will give me the impetus to get reading for pleasure again.
Hullo!My name is Scott. I'm a whovian and a vegan. I'm returning to reading genre books after a (too) long absence. I look forward to getting to know you!
-Scott
Hey people!My name is Ryan, a long time fan of fantasy and science fiction, though I wasted my formative years trying to deny it. Now I'm making it up by reading the modern classics and classic classics.
I love the classic sci-fi, fantasy and horror of Bradbury, Clark A. Smith, Derleth, Shirley Jackson, Poe, King, Robert E. Howard, and etc etc.
These days I've fallen for Martin (obviously), Lynch, Abercrombie and most recently Rothfuss, who I had already been a fan of the man for over a year but only picked up his books in the last few weeks. Denna4Lyfe.
Hi everyone,I´m Paolo, 30 years old, born and live in Mexico City where I currently work as an engineer for a mining company. I´m new to Goodreads... I started my reading career at a young age with and went through everything I could find of children´s and YA fantasy, horror and SF books. Then I went through a long Stephen King phase in my teens. After that I spent many years reading mostly non-fiction (Carl Sagan, Bill Bryson) with the occasional novel thrown in, though mostly I was just not reading that much.
About a year ago I found myself with a little more extra time than I used to have and rediscovered my love for reading, especially SF/F.
I look forward to future discussions with you guys!!
Books I read in the past year include:
ASOIAF by George R.R. Martin (all 5!)
The City & the City by China Mieville
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein (unfinished)
The Handmaid´s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Red Rising by Pierce Brown (just finished!)
Books I have lined up waiting to be read include:
Dune by Frank Herbert
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin
Hyperion by Dan Simmons
The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (does this count as fantasy? not really?)
Hi everyone! I'm Fabio.I'm a SF reader/writer/editor/translator from Sao Paulo, Brazil. I started reading SF/Fantasy/Horror in my early teens (Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke) and soon moved on to Frederik Pohl, James White, Clive Barker, Stephen King, Frank Herbert, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Pat Cadigan - never stopped, actually.
For the past twenty-odd years one of my dreams came true and I started translating to Brazilian Portuguese a few of these authors - Neuromancer, Snow Crash, A Clockwork Orange, Boneshaker, Weaveworld, Good Omens, VALIS, The Man in the High Castle are among them.
Last year I was a member of the 2013 Clarion West Writers Workshop class, and since then I've been writing more - and reading more. It feels good to be here. Thanks for having me!
Hi. I'm Jenny. I have been an avid fantasy reader since I was a teen.
My favorite authors include J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Moore, and Tom Robbins.
There is nothing better than getting folded into the world of a good book.
Hi, I'm Josh.I joined back when the video show was on Geek and Sundry, but I never got around to reading any of the books. So, I was just lurking until I got the time to finally read one along with the group.
Hi everyone!I'm a Swedish engineering student who recently picked up listening to the podcast while walking to campus. Since winter in Sweden does not allow taking your bike during the cold months I suddenly found myself walking 40 minutes every morning and afternoon and that got really boring after a while, so I tried out listening to some different pods and Sword and Laser is definitely my favourite!
I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fangirl and I usually tend to be more Sword than Laser, though I enjoy both. I'm really looking forward to getting into the book club discussions!
Yo, Started listening to the podcast after the YouTube series ended. I usually don't read any of the books that they read for the book club but the show is definitely a good resource for learning about new books and author interviews.
Some of my favorite authors George RR Martin (duh), Orson Scott Card (books AND his politics: suck it liberals!), Stephen King, Steve Perry (the man who never missed! It's only 200 pages, go effing read it), John Scalzi, and Asimov.
I just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora and I freaked out! That book is baller! Before that I read American Gods and I freaked out! That book is a piece of flipping garbage!
I guess that's about it. I enjoy trolling people on Facebook and I watch the Bachelor with my wife. It's the epitome of trash TV and I love it. Cya around the inter webs.
Hi. I'm Jay. I've been reading F&SF since I was a teenager. I enjoy this group because you recommend books I might not have found. I'm working my way up from the beginning-just finished podcast 50. Hope to be current with the group in a year or so!
Hi, I'm Christopher I'm an amateur writer going to college to polish my skills. I have been a long time fan of the podcast and gotten into a lot of good books and authors as a result of it. I am more of a sword overall though I like some laser as well. Some of my favorite authors include Jim Butcher, Kim Harrison, Piers Anthony, John Scalzi, and Anne Rice. For now I will just be participating in the boards already made and not making my own but will make my own eventually. Anyone who wants to is welcome to drop me a line.
Hi all,My name is Emily. I'm a librarian and an avid fantasy/sci-fi reader. I look forward to reading along with you this year.
Greetings! I'm Joanne.When I was growing up, girls didn't read science fiction--at least, none I knew. Thanks to the Internet, I now know many who do. I fell in love with fantasy when I came across Tolkien in my late teens. For years, I thought one friend and I were the only ones who knew about and loved that obscure tale about furry-footed little people and a ring.
I enjoy reading Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Madeleine L'Engle, Orson Scott Card, Lois McMaster Bujold (her sci-fi, not the paranormal romance), Connie Willis, Terry Pratchett, Jim Butcher, Ursula K. Le Guin, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, Robin Hobb, and Brandon Sanderson.
I'm in the midst of a move, so I may not participate much for a while, but I wanted to join while I remembered. I'm looking forward to finding new-to-me authors and books.
Hi I'm Scott...I have read fantasy and science fiction since middle school, and some of my favorites are:
George R R Martin, Patrick Rothfuss, Steve Erikson, Tom Lloyd, Richard Kadrey, Spider Robinson, Jim Butcher, Brandon Sanderson, Simon Green, among many others
Hi all, I am Lloyd. I am the author of the Prophecy of Ages Saga. Featuring the books Wings of Light and Decimation of Hope. I love reading Fantasy and Science Fiction as well as Horror.Some of my favorite authors are Robert Jordan, George RR Martin, Brent Weeks, Brandon Sanderson, Tolkien and Fiona Mcintosh.
Favorite books include all the Wheel of Time, Once..., Tales of the City, LOTR & Hobbit, Rune and Darkest Day and Scott Pilgrim.
I also love Sword and Laser :)
Hi there, I'm an author, but don't hold that against me, I'm even more of a reader! My 1st fantasy was Patricia McKillip the forgotten Beast of Eld, I was like 14 and hooked. My "book under the bed" is a romance fantasy, it is under the bed because I was advised paranormal sells better. Love paranormal too, but would love to launch that fantasy story. Thank you for having me, Susannah
hello all!! nice being here! this is my first time in a forum so be patient with me :P I am a pen and paper RPG fanatic and I love fantasy and science fiction!! my favourite authors are Clark Aston smith , Tolkien , Robin Hoob , Robert E. Howard ..... eeeeeto I can't remember more right now!!! :)
that's from me right now!Nice meeting you all!!!! :)))))
Hello,I'm Scott. I've been listening to this podcast for a year? Maybe two... but I never joined the this group even though I've had a Goodreads account for about as long. I finally thought I should get in on what's going here and hopefully find myself in some interesting discussions.
It'll be nice to meet everyone, or at least some. Thanks, Scott.
Orelia here. Guess I should introduce myself before I jump into the main threads. I read almost exclusively sci-fi and fantasy, so this sounds like the group for me. Lately I've been obsessed with Brandon Sanderson. And while I don't expect that obsession to stop anytime soon, I do imagine I'll soon have read everything he has published. (Except for the Wheel of Time, I've never gotten further than 100 pages into it.) When that time comes, I'll be looking for more good books and I can certainly check in here.
Hello,I am Mark. It's a common name so you can call me Beag. I inject literature into my brain in whatever way is easiest at the time, to me they're all "reading." I make no distinction between dead tries, flowing bits, or waves of sound hitting my eardrums. I like to read, I have no credentials to speak of other than having existed for long enough that when I started hitting the used book stores things were regularly only a quarter. Due to that I read a lot of crap and also found people like Harlan Ellison and Robert Heinlein. In my high school days I used to pick a set of shelves in the library and read everything on it.
These days I divide my "free" time between reading old favorites and trying to put high quality new books in my head. I still make room for reading fun crap as well, because I'm in it to both learn new things and enjoy myself.
I've been wanting to join a book club, but the realities of single parent hood have kept me from being able to, and the few I've tried have not been well moderated. I've been watching here for a bit, and thought I'd join in on this round.
Metta,
Beag.
Hello, I am Michael. I love science fiction that combines with young adult genres. Much of the kind of fiction written by Neil Gaiman and others. I very much enjoyed Stardust. I am also s fan of Jumper a novel written by author of Jumper Steven Gould. I have been a Heinlein fan like many here for years. Lurker for several years, but thought that I would now make a introduction post. Cheers, and here's to seeing many more Sword and Laser folks around. :)
Beaglebot wrote: "Hello,I am Mark. It's a common name so you can call me Beag. I inject literature into my brain in whatever way is easiest at the time, to me they're all "reading." I make no distinction betw..."
Since you mentioned liking to learn new things I would recommend the National Geographic magazine to you.
I'll go by my handle Snacksmoto. Although I'm no longer the avid reader that I was as a youth, I still pick up a book now and again after a many year break. I remember starting to listen to the podcast purely for good book suggestions. This was approximately the time that this group was reading Fuzzy Nation (mid-2011). Hopefully, if I add some comments, I won't have this profile disappear like my last one.
I already know that I won't keep up with the monthly book picks but I'll read some if they pique my interest. My Goodreads bookshelf is a work-in-progress from my memory of which books I've read. Whatever gave me the "brilliant" idea of getting rid of my bookcases of novels, I've yet to figure out. Years later I'm still regretting it. Ratings and reviews for those now lost will be left in the past.
Sorry Tom, but I have been primarily a Sword my whole life. Though my fondness for Laser is minimal it is still there and I hope to redshift it. Science has always been interesting to me although I've never quite figured out why science-fiction wasn't. Perhaps it stemmed from real life always wanting to put fiction into real life science that annoyed me.
Lurker-mode reactivated.
Hi All,I'm Mark and I'm a huge sci-fi/fantasy fan. I got hooked around around 30 years ago when I first picked up a copy of Lord Of The Rings. These days I still try to read as much as possible and my current favs are Scott Lynch, Joe Abercrombie and Chine Mieville.
I'm really looking forward to talking with you all and finding new authors and books to read.
Cheers,
Mark.
Hello everyone, I am Brittany Dodson. While I must profess I have been a fantasy fan for some years and have mainly thanks to taking courses from Dennis Danvers and studying Orson Scott Card in college enjoyed a few of the classics of Science fiction. Which should be odd as this past year I released y own novel which is in the science fiction category. The authors that fill my book shelves tend to remain close to my personal heart being, Brooks, Pratchett, Adams, and Cherryh. Given I cut my teeth in the love of fantasy on Brooks when I was a child and to this day will cheer myself up with a copy of any of Pratchett or the Adams delightful series. Given I always was a fan of more classic authors like Tolkien, Poe, and Conan Doyle. I am interested in finding new series and possible one short novels that fit a stronger fantasy world be it found in science magic or both. I will say I have given people like King time but found his works to be best when they are kept short and to the point. I look forward to suggestion and ideas that this group may provide for me and hope in turn I can provide my own to help others.
Brittany wrote: "Hello everyone, I am Brittany Dodson. While I must profess I have been a fantasy fan for some years and have mainly thanks to taking courses from Dennis Danvers and studying Orson Scott Card in co..."
Since you like Fantasy a lot I might suggest the Xanth Series by Piers Anthony
Hey all! Im Mathilde, but ya´ll can call me Maggie ;)Im an all time fantasy lover, have read a bunch of different ones, and on the way towards the big one(and even though i havent read it yet) and my favorite books ever (if that is even possible) "The HObbit" and "Lord of the rings" :D
But im from denmark and love to read english books, so i dont get easy access to them :/ - which is where YOU, dear forum, come in, to inspire me on what to read next :D
Hi!,My name is Mercedes and I'm from Spain. I've been a book lover since I was nine and I was given " The Neverending Story" as a birthday present.
My favourite genres are sci-fi and fantasy ( obvius... I'm joining this group, hehehe)
Excuse me for my English if sometimes it's not very good. I'm learning :-P
Mercedes wrote: "Hi!,My name is Mercedes and I'm from Spain. I've been a book lover since I was nine and I was given " The Neverending Story" as a birthday present.
My favourite genres are sci-fi and fantasy ( ..."
Hi Mercedes! Bienvenida! I'm from Colombia :). I have found that people in the forums will correct you kindly and that has improved the way I write (although errors get in the way, here and there)
Greetings and Salutations!The name is Casey, pronounced KC. I have been reading sci fi since elementary school and fantasy since about seventh grade. My favorite authors are H. G. Wells, Anne McCaffrey, John Green, and Anne Rice. I once owned near 300 physical books towards my dream home library, but had to sell them. Now I am slowly collecting a new library while reading most of my books through my kindle or after being borrowed from the public library.
I love reading, am attempting a tumblr/youtube book channel in the near future.
Hello everyone!I'm Alice, I'm a college student (studying business engineering) who spends a good deal of her free time reading SFF books and have been a bookworm (or rather, as a certain booktuber likes to call it, a booklion) for as long as I can remember.
My favourite authors... Well actually, outside of Brandon Sanderson and James Clemens, they are french/belgian authors (French is my mothertongue, btw I apologize in advance for any and all English mistakes): Emile Ajar, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt and Alexandre Dumas.
Since discovering the booktube community I also shamelessly read a lot of YA (contemporary, fantasy and sci-fi) and particularly enjoy dystopian books.
I also try to read some classics (just finished 'The Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy" and loved it) to expand my litterary horizon. I also tend to prefer big books and series to small stand-alone books.
I'm currently reading "Words of Radiance" by Brandon Sanderson which I have received a week before official "launch" thanks to an amazon fluke (it was supposed to be delivered on the 20th of march and I got it yesterday!) and it makes me oh so happy.
It's lovely to meet you all!
Greetings to all the new folk. Come on in, we hardly ever bite. (And it's okay when we do, because we've had our shots.)
Hi everyone,I've been listening to the podcast for nearly two years now, so I figured it was time I stopped lurking and joined in.
I definitely lean towards the sword side of the spectrum, though I like to mix in a little laser here and there. I've been reading fantasy for about as long as I can remember, but lately have been trying to branch out by mixing in some more "classic" literature.
Anyways, nice to meet everyone, see you around.
I'm brand new. Love scifi and have rarely read any real fantasy. I'm looking forward to expanding my horizons and reading more books that may be normally out of my element.
Just joined after stumbling across the podcast. Going to participate in Altered Carbon March and see how it goes. Sci-Fi/cyberpunk/Fantasy has always been about 25% of my readings but a lot more recently. Just blew through the Dune series and Gibson's Bridge series. Live in Costa Rica and love to read, do yoga and hang out at the beach - looking forward to participating on the S&L. Pura Vida.
The Sword and Laser
Books mentioned in this topic
Ghosts of the Scattered Kingdoms (other topics)The Sword of Shannara (other topics)
Shadow & Claw (other topics)
A Canticle for Leibowitz (other topics)
A Canticle for Leibowitz (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Wade Garret (other topics)Gene Wolfe (other topics)
John Scalzi (other topics)
Richelle Mead (other topics)
Brandon Sanderson (other topics)
More...
I'm hoping that by being a part of this group I can take reading from being a predominantly solo experience and make it more social. I look forward to reading with all of you!