Introductions - tell us a little about yourself Showing 701-750 of 3,618

[Brenda]

My name is Brenda Estacio, I live in Atwater, California and I am heading to Atlanta, GA and Knoxville TN next week to promote my new book. If any any of you are in these areas, I would enjoy meeting you and getting to know the faces that go with the names.

[John]

Thanks Libby :-). I'll let everyone know when it's out.

Welcome to the group, Brenda. Nice to have ya here.

[Chris]

Welcome to the group, Brenda.

[Brenda]

Look forward to reading your book, John. Congrats.
You will be busy come February. I never realized how much work came after the release of a new book.

I have been going non stop since the release of Gateway To DreamWorld on August 20, 2009.

How do you handle the promotion process?

[Brenda]

Chris, do you have any tips ffrom your experiences?

[John]

Thanks very much, Brenda. Let's see... the promotion process.... err... that's something of a work in progress for me ;-). A good friend of mine pointed out a while ago that I'm the worst at self-promotion he's ever met. Generally I try to hit as many cons as I can, set up signings, and work on the internet. There's not a lot of organization or method to my particular brand of madness :-).

[Shanon]

Hello everyone - My name is Shanon. I was excited to find a group who's bookshelves have a lot of books I'm planning on reading in the very near future!

I am a huge fan of Urban Fantasy books and have only recently started getting into Fantasy. I'm looking forward to a lot of great suggestions.

[Chris]

Welcome to the group, Shannon....

Brenda - well, I haven't published a book yet. So I guess from my experience as a reader I'd say...read lots of books! Heh...One tip I might have is that if you would like your book considered by this group, to stop on by our current nomination thread and add it: http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/2...

[Brenda]

Shanon wrote: "Hello everyone - My name is Shanon. I was excited to find a group who's bookshelves have a lot of books I'm planning on reading in the very near future!

I am a huge fan of Urban Fantasy books a..."

Shanon wrote: "Hello everyone - My name is Shanon. I was excited to find a group who's bookshelves have a lot of books I'm planning on reading in the very near future!

I am a huge fan of Urban Fantasy books a..."

Cinda wrote: "Ruta wrote: "hi, I'm completely new here.
i'm 15 and living in UK for 7 years. i was born i Lithuania (don't think anyone heard of it, went school there and started reading fantasy. came england an..."

Jennifer wrote: "Hello all! I'm excited about the threads I've read in your group so far....I can't read enough fantasy..it's my absolute favorite genre! Some of my favorites are

George RR Martin
Robert Jordan..."

Gateway to DreamWorld

[Brenda]

Hi Shannon,

If you enjoy fantasy novels, check out the new release of Gateway To DreamWorld. It is listed at Amazon and Barnes&Nobles

[Priscilla]

I am a 28 and a SAHM to 3 wonderful boys. We live in Florida but were we go from here will all depend on the Navy and my husband. My boys and I are big into martial arts. I am a school teacher in the elementary grades but I am not teaching until my youngest starts school in another year. I am taking the time to go to school again.

I have been reading books since I was 4 but did not find Fantasy books until High School when I read the Hobbit. I will say that I read quite a lot of books and have a few favorites:

Narnia Series by C.S. Lewis
Harry Potter Series J. K. Rowling
Lost History Books Series (All 3 different series) by Ted Dekker
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Cary

I enjoyed many books but these are the ones that I read over and over again. I will say that I do keep up with a lot of YA Fantasy books just so I can have a discussion with my class. I like to do this so that I know if a book would be good to read to the class during free time and get them enjoying books.

[John]

Welcome to the group, Shannon and Priscilla. Nice to have you here :-).

[Sarah]

Hi everyone!

I'm Sarah Rose. From Israel (I think the only one here). I discovered Goodreads through SFF Chronicles (where I was a member for quite a long time), and I'm so happy to have discovered it that I'm actually forcing all my friends to join in.
I'm 17, which means I'm a high-school student, graduating this year.

My first introduction to fantasy was the Harry Potter books (how surprising!) which were recommended by my eldest brother. I loved the Harry Potter books (and still do of course) but for some reason I believed they were the only ones in that genre, which back then I couldn't even name (stupid 10-year-old, I know).

My obssession with fantasy (and I truely mean it) came only years later, by the end of my first year in high-school.
Some friends offered some great recommendations, and naturally, I devoured everything that was presented to me.
Since then, I became an avid fantasy-lover!

My favourite authors are (starting with the oldest acquaintances to the ones that I've only recetly became familiar with):

JK Rowling
Chrispopher Paolini
Robin Hobb
Marion Zimmer Bradley
Scoot Lynch
Patrick Rothfuss
George RR Martin
David Gemmell
Juliet Marillier

I read some other great authors though not enough of their work to make them my favs, but I hope that will soon be amended.

As to my fantasy preferances, I mostly enjoy high, epic fantasy, with deep characters and emotional writing-style. I always look for something new and inspiring in a book, conveyed in a subtle and interesting manner. Urban fantasy is not usually my cup of tea, as well as comic fantasy and other contemporary stuff. I love historical fantasy, heroic, and even fairytale-retelling.

Unfortunately, there's so much more in fantasy that I'd like to explore but don't have the time. My to-read pile is ever-growing, and at this rate, I fear I'll never be able to manage half of what I'd aimed for.

Joining GR is definitely one of the best things that happened to me the last month, and I sure hope I'll feel that way in years to come...hhh.

[Stuart]

Welcome to the group Sarah

[Robin]

John wrote: "Welcome to the group Gabriel, Kyle, and everyone else I may have missed. Sorry for the long absence, been busy finishing with final edit. FINALLY DONE."

Congratz John....I'm in the same boat as you as Michael's third just hit the street. But there is no rest for the weary as he is already editing #4. Anyway I'm looking forward to reading your second.

[Robin]

Welcome to the group y'all. I've been gone for a bit but looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.

[Spuddie]

Hi folks, I'm Cheryl from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Just joined the group though I've been on Goodreads for awhile now. I'm sure my participation will wax and wane as time allows.

I'm a rather eclectic reader--I read a fair bit of fantasy but also a lot of mystery/thriller and historical fiction, speculative fiction, some general fiction too. There are a lot of fantasy authors that I haven't tried yet--only recently discovered Anne McCaffrey, for example, and kicked myself for not trying her stuff sooner.

My all-time favorite book from any genre is Lord of the Rings, which I've read at least a dozen times over the years, the first time forty years ago when I was ten. Isn't it odd how a book changes a little every time you read it? Or...maybe that's me changing. :)

Other favorite fantasy authors are Robert Jordan, Robin Hobb, Anne McCaffrey, George R.R. Martin, Terry Brooks, JK Rowling and Terry Pratchett.

There are a lot of authors also that I've "sampled" and only read a book or two of theirs which I really liked, but couldn't really call them "favorites" with only a couple of their books under my belt: Jacqueline Carey, Scott Lynch, Brandon Sanderson, Joe Abercrombie.

I've also recently discovered so-called "young adult" fantasy and find that many of those are very excellent, compelling reading (or listening--I tend to listen to audio books of a lot of the YA stuff). Recent favorites: Rick Riordan, Jeanne DuPrau, Jenny Nimmo, Garth Nix...

Well, this could be an almost endless list and I'm sure reading this group's posts will add to my ever-growing TBR pile!

Cheryl

[Jon]

Welcome to the group, Cheryl. I enjoyed perusing and voting for many of your reviews. I look forward to expanding out of my genre "box" with your insights and recommendations. :)

[Janny]

Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone!

I'm Sarah Rose. From Israel (I think the only one here). I discovered Goodreads through SFF Chronicles (where I was a member for quite a long time), and I'm so happy to have discovere..."

Sarah, that's an interesting spread of authors. Check out Carol Berg - she's done some works you may enjoy.

[Kelly]

I'm Kelly, I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. the most beautiful city in the world. I am an artist- clay and penwork. And tend to dwelve into the fantasy realm with that as well.
My other two favorite subjects are quantum Physics and Philosophy.
I can't even start to decide on fav authors. I read far too much to decide i am into only a few, but the darkjewels trilogy, as well as the Host- by Stephanie Meyer, have my attention lately.
A good neighbor donated a huge box of fantasy/vamp books to me last month,I hope that wil explain the "all overness" of my reading lists of late.
LAst but not least, Thanks for the Welcome!

[Sarah]

Janny wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone!

I'm Sarah Rose. From Israel (I think the only one here). I discovered Goodreads through SFF Chronicles (where I was a member for quite a long time), and I'm so happy to ..."

Hi Janny!
Actually I read Carol Berg's Flesh and Spirit, having great expectations beforehand, and I was quite disappointed. It seemed... lingering and not heading anywhere. I've heard her Rai-Kirah is excellent though, so I'm hoping to give it a try sometime in the near future.
Speaking of interesting authors, I've read so many excellent revies on your books! To Ride Hell's Chasm especially, and I'm really looking forward to reading it and get my own impression.

[Laura]

Hi,
I'm new here. My names Laura. I live in Colorado Springs with my husband and 2 year old daughter. I am an english major in college. I love reading but lately I haven't been getting a lot done. Right now I am in the middle of Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth series, I'm also reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein but that is for school :) it's still an amazing read. I've been working on the storm of the century screenplay by stephen king off and on for a few months, but I have a tendency to wander between books. I love Orson Scott Card (Memory of Earth series didn't really like Enders Game too much) and the like, but I've been really looking for some new authors that I can read for a looooong time. Any suggestions?

[Janny]

Sarah wrote: "Janny wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone!

I'm Sarah Rose. From Israel (I think the only one here). I discovered Goodreads through SFF Chronicles (where I was a member for quite a long time), and I'..."

I'd say, the second book in the Carol Berg duology REALLY delivers, on all points. Absolutely everything opens out and there are some strange and wonderful developments you could not anticipate - and sides to the hero, not apparent. The very best authors often deliver slowly - then the punch has more flash and brilliance. I'd urge you not to give this up - though -

our tastes could be different - I found the Rai-Kirah trilogy WAS excellent. I didn't like the four book series that followed (Avonar, and not related) as well, mostly because she repeated certain plot points. It was looser knit, but still a better than average read.

Considering To Ride Hell's Chasm: that's fun, it falls on the more complex/adult read side - classic themes, but delivered with a twist - if you want to give the title a whirl, I've got excerpts posted - you can wet your feet at leisure, see if you like before the plunge. (chapter one, in text, can be read on screen, Chapters 1-3 can be downloaded in MP3 format, in audio) Look under excerpts on my site http://www.paravia.com/JannyWurts

[Cody]

Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone!

I'm Sarah Rose. From Israel (I think the only one here). I discovered Goodreads through SFF Chronicles (where I was a member for quite a long time), and I'm so happy to have discovere..."

Hello Sarah, welcome to the Fantasy Group. Have you read Terry Goodkind's book?

[Sarah]

Cody wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone!

I'm Sarah Rose. From Israel (I think the only one here). I discovered Goodreads through SFF Chronicles (where I was a member for quite a long time), and I'm so happy to ..."

Hi Cody!

Yes, I have. I've read all of Goodkind's books (that is, all of the Sword of Truth series). My views on Goodkind's writing have changed so many time while I was reading his books, and though I find his writing flawed in many ways, Richard and Kahlan will always have a place in my heart.
Wizard's First Rule was one of the earliest books I read when I was first introduced to the fantasy genre, so I guess it will always be special in a certain way for me.
I see that you're currently reading Naked Empire, how do you like it so far?

[Cody]

Sarah wrote: "Cody wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone!

I'm Sarah Rose. From Israel (I think the only one here). I discovered Goodreads through SFF Chronicles (where I was a member for quite a long time), and I'm..."

Well, I got like 14 pages to go... It had lot of action in the ending of the book. It was great. I love it than liking it.

[Sarah]

Cody wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Cody wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Hi everyone!

I'm Sarah Rose. From Israel (I think the only one here). I discovered Goodreads through SFF Chronicles (where I was a member for quite a long ..."

Really? It was the worst book of the series IMO. I was considering giving up on the whole things just because reading Naked Empire was so...excruciating.

[Cody]

I do agreed with that. My favorite book so far was Faith of the Fallen. It was amazing detail work by Terry with "Love-Connecting" stuff or whatever. However, it is excruciating, but I like it.

[Sarah]

Cody wrote: "I do agreed with that. My favorite book so far was Faith of the Fallen. It was amazing detail work by Terry with "Love-Connecting" stuff or whatever. However, it is excruciating, but I like it. "

The last three books in the series get much better though, almost like the frist ones. The ending was quite unpredictable and unexpected, I must say.
All in all, I'm glad I decided to get on with the series eventually.
Have you tried any other fantasy authors that you liked?

[John]

Welcome to the group, Sarah!

Thanks, Robin. Right there with Michael on the lack of down time. I'm working on the third one now.

[John]

Gah! I missed a whole page of folks. A warm welcome to Cheryl, Kelly and Laura, too. Yeesh. Three days of illness and look at all you miss...

[Mary]

Hi I'm Wendy from Denver, CO. I have two teenagers who love fantasy and sci-fi and so, of course, I end up reading the books too, and I now also love fantasy.

We recently discovered an amazing young author, Riley Carney, when she came to my daughter's school to speak. We all read her book and we really liked it!

Riley Carney is only sixteen years old (!) and she has written a five-book series called The Reign of the Elements. The first book is called The Fire Stone, and it's a fantasy adventure story with great characters.

I recommend it for anyone who likes the following authors, all of whom I really enjoy:

Eion Colfer
Cinda Williams Chima
Phillip Pullman
Neil Gaiman
Rick Riordan
Llyod Alexander
JK Rowling
Brandon Sanderson
Dianne Wynne Jones
Garth Nix
Obert Skye

It's great to read all of your enlightening comments!

[John]

Welcome to the group, Wendy. Ooh, a fellow Coloradan :-).

[Brenda]

Hi Wendy, welcome to the group. I lived in Colorado Springs before moving to California.

I hope you and your children will read my new fantasy book, "Gateway To DreamWorld." I would love to get feedback from all of you someday.

[Amber]

Hello everyone, I'm Amber. :) I am a fledgling librarian who is currently from Dallas TX but soon to be of Los Alamos NM. I've been reading fantasy books for as long as I can recall - my father started me on The Hobbit while I was still in grade school and I've been reading everything I can get my hands on ever since. My favorite authors include (of course) Tolkien, Guy Gavriel Kay, Anne McCaffery, Melanie Rawn, George R. R. Martin, Brandon Sanderwon and Scott Lynch. I've recently been trying to branch out a bit and become more well-read outside of the genre, but I can't seem to stay away from fantasy for too long :)

[Charles]

Dear Cheryl, Sarah, Kelly, Laura, Wendy, and Amber,

Welcome to the GR Fantasy Book Club. This site is a lot of fun. We have very intelligent contributors, including some famous authors. I'm sure you will enjoy it.

I have been away for 2 weeks playing in the band, and i just wanted to catch up with greetings. Glad to have you all aboard.

[Brenda]

Welcome to the group Amber. Members are great at sharing their finds and dislikes. I wish you the best in NM

[Brenda]

What type of band are you with Charles? Where do you play?

[Charles]

Brenda,
Actually I am in 3 bands just now. My main group is Straight From the Heart, which I would describe as New Age Spiritual Folk-type. We tour from April to August. Next is the EclectHix, a pun on country boys doing a hugely varietal mix -- Celtic, blue grass, medieval and 60s folk. Toured Sept and Oct. Last is my classic rock cover band, The Walking Wounded. play lead guitar and sing some. Huge fun.

[Robin]

Oh I love Celtic Music - Really cool Charles

Robin (The Crown Conspiracy | Avempartha | Nyphron Rising)

[Charles]

Robin,

I met the members of the CeltHix (the original name) at Pennsic, an SCA MegaEvent. We do a number of their tunes in the (larger and more varietal) EclectHix -- "Witch of the Westmoreland", "We Be Soldiers Three" "A-Fishin' for the Whale"
"Galway Girl" to name just a few. I too, love the Celtic Sound.

Yes, I would be honored to be your friend at GR, and thank you for asking!

[John]

Welcome to the group, Amber :-).

[Josh]

Hey gang!

My name is Josh and I live in the Pacific Northwest. I just heard about GoodReads today, and of course I went straight for the Fantasy group. I've always been a huge fan of this genre and one of the problems I've always had, has been finding new books to read! As I'm sure a lot of you can agree, I'm quite picky about what kind of fantasy I like. Hard to say, as Rothfus and Martin surely lead the pack, but Brooks, and Goodkind, Tad Williams and even Stephen King are also fantastic. The one requirement I have, is that they are in the 500+ page range, or close to it.

Any recommendations? Anyone know if GoodReads has a "suggested reading based on these ratings" kinda deal?

Glad to be here!

[John]

Welcome to the group, Josh. Glad ya found us. Let's see... recommendations for longer fantasy novels. You didn't mention Robert Jordan, and his are definitely in both the genre and page-count you're looking for. Sara Douglass and Elizabeth Haydon would be a couple of others you might want to check out.

[Charles]

Josh,
Not to sound like a broken record, but I am an old-time fantasy reader who also likes long books and series. I agree with John on Wheel of Time, but would add The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (Donaldson, 8 books + 1 to go) and, for my money, the best out there today, Wars of Light and Shadow by Janny Wurts (8 or 9 and several still to go -- all 400-500 pp or more). Those will keep you entertained while waiting for the last.

[Barbm1020]

Charles, I want to hear some of your music. I've been singing traditional music all my life, mostly Appalachian and Celtic. EclectHix sounds like great fun1 Where are you based?

[Carolyn]

Josh wrote: "The one requirement I have, is that they are in the 500+ page range, or close to it.

Any recommendations? Anyone know if GoodReads has a "suggested reading based on these ratings" kinda deal?.."

Welcome to the group Josh!
GR doesn't have a 'suggested reading' widget yet, I think they have one somewhere in the works. The best ways I've found are to check out the shelves of other readers that you already have some commonalities with & surfing the lists in Listopia.

The suggestions I'll add are the Jacqueline Carey series, starting with Kushiel's Dart - excellent world building and characters, each book is easily in the 700-1000 page range (depending on the format). She just started the third trilogy in the sequence, so there's plenty of reading to do. = )

[Ronda]

Hey Josh, I recommend:

Author: Robert Newcomb
The Chronicles of Blood & Stone Series
Book 1: The Fifth Sorceress - 589 pages
Book 2: The Gates of Dawn - 464 pages
Book 3: The Scrolls of the Ancients - 530 pages

(the series continues into the next series)

The Destinies of Blood & stone Series
Book 4: Savage Messiah - 574 pages
Book 5: A March into Darkness - 638 pages
Book 6: Rise of the Blood Royal - 524 pages

For a quick series I recommend:

Author: Greg Keys
The Kingdom of Thorn & Bone Series
Book 1: The Briar King
Book 2: The Charnel Prince
Book 3: The Blood Knight
Book 4: The Born Queen

[Josh]

Wow! John, Charles, Carolyn, and Ronda: thanks! I was aware of Robert Jordan, and I'm in the midst of attempting for the second time book 1: The Eye of the World. I was a tad concerned about starting the series considering I was under the impression he passed away before completing it... is the group's opinion that it's well worth it?

All of your other suggestions (too many to name in this brief posting here) are amazing! I'm excited to check which ones are at my local library. I don't recognize most of those names which is fantastic.

Thanks again for taking the time to suggest those authors. I'll be sure to let you know when I read them. :o]

[Michael]

I joined the book club a few months ago actually, but I haven't introduced myself yet. so here it comes

My name is Michael, I'll be 22 in a little more than a month. I am from Uppsala, Sweden. I'm not very picky about what fantasy books I read, usually anything that gets published. Me not being very picky, I like almost everything I read, but if I had to mention authors I like most they'd probably be Katherine Kerr(Deverry series) and Jim Butcher(the codex alera series). My goodreads library is very incomplete, I probably have 200 fantasy books give or take 50 in my bookshelves, so I'm familiar with most known authors in the genre.