Introductions - tell us a little about yourself Showing 2,251-2,300 of 3,618

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Bev. Welcome.

[Ash]

Razmatus wrote: "Sonja wrote: "Ronald wrote: "I look for distraction, and do not try to read between the lines, or find any background message in any book I read. Escape from Reality is my main goal. (Not that I do..."

If I really enjoy a book I feel like I have to go more into depth. There's nothing better than having a good a discussion about ur favourite book :-)

[Tim]

Hello everyone,
My name is Tim from Milwaukee, WI. I just recently got back into reading Fantasy and also Science Fiction. I used to be a big history reader but after going to grad school for it, reading history became a job and who wants to work when on off hours, so I got back into fantasy to get as far away from my studies as possible when I can.
I actually got really into it when a buddy of mine who works at a bookstore recommended Joe Abercrombie's work as a good distraction from the heavy reading I have to do, and he made a good call.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome.

[J.D.]

Hoju wrote: "Hello everyone,
My name is Tim from Milwaukee, WI. I just recently got back into reading Fantasy and also Science Fiction. I used to be a big history reader but after going to grad school for it, r..."

Good to see you here.

[Jonathan]

Hoju wrote: "Hello everyone,
My name is Tim from Milwaukee, WI. I just recently got back into reading Fantasy and also Science Fiction. I used to be a big history reader but after going to grad school for it, r..."

Hi hoju. Nice to see another history fiend in the group!

If I may ask, what is your main area of study?

[Tim]

Jon wrote: "Hoju wrote: "Hello everyone,
My name is Tim from Milwaukee, WI. I just recently got back into reading Fantasy and also Science Fiction. I used to be a big history reader but after going to grad sch..."

Hey there. My main area is 20th century American History with an emphasis on econ and social history. I just finished my thesis on the welfare system in Wisconsin during the 1930's.

[Joe]

Hello, My name is Joe.

I currently live on the east coast with my wife and four kids. I am an honorably discharged Army and Air Force service member. My work experience includes a vast range of occupations, from construction, restaurant/food service and Law Enforcement. In 2009 I was injured in an automobile accident and forced to retire from my L/E career.

As for my reading interests, it's various. I'm willing to try anything but my true love has to be without a doubt, Epic-fantasy/Sci-fi.

When I was young my mother bought me a Hobbit read along with cassette children's book and that probably started it. My Father had his hand in it too with his obsession with epic historical and mythological flicks from the 50's and 60's. Spartacus, Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad movies and when Schwarzenegger's Conan the Barbarian exploded on the scene in the early 80's that most definitely spawned my obsession for sword and sorcery.

As for my reading, I most definitely adore the founding father of the genre R.E Howard's Conan series. The books blow the movies away. Having recently re-read most of the stories I still can't get over how ahead of his time Howard was. With the character Conan he created a figure that is the epitome of what just about every man wants to be, Strong, intelligent, can take on anyone or anything and c'mon guys you know it's true, good with the ladies! Just a flesh and blood character going up against, monsters, Wizards, demi-gods and hordes of savage invaders.

Close second to Mr. Howard would have to be another legend in J.R.R Tolkien. As a small child Bilbo Baggins was like my alter ego. When I picked up and read Lord of The Rings (my mother didn't want me reading that until Junior High for some reason) my heart was broken to learn that Bilbo was not the lead. Frodo lived up to task though and all was well in the Shire ever after.

Through my elementary school years, C.S Lewis and Llyod Alexander were my staple Fantasy books. In my highschool years my interest turned to darker interests but Stephen King's Dragon's Eyes was a favorite. I explored my interests in thrillers more in line with what Stephen King generally writes. As I left highschool and went off to do my Initial active duty training with the army I got sucked into the Sword of Truth series.

In Goodkind's SOT series I absolutely adored Richard and Kahlan all the way up and through Faith of the fallen. Then I didn't like the direction of the saga. The fact that the protagonists were what I would call "with their backs against the wall" wasn't a problem. I just felt like the books lost their soul so to speak. The only way I can explain it is I typically read a book 3-4 times anxiously. In Phantom, Chainfire and Confessor I don't think I'll ever read those again. I haven't even gotten around to Omen Machine but plan too. I'll continue to follow along and read w/e Goodkind puts out but I just didn't like those books, I guess they seemed to be redundant or procrastinated a story line where Kahlan gets abducted and it takes almost three novels to save her. Not bringing this up to bash Goodkind's work, he's a hall of famer, one of the best ever, just trying to highlight what I don't like.

Just started the In Her Name saga by Michael Hicks and I'm quite impressed. Found it free on amazon so I jumped on it. Definitely something original from what I've read so far. Really like the concepts involved particularly an inter-stellar war between Humankind and another sentient race.

Through this very web-site I have found a work I find very interesting so The Emerald Dragon, by Solitaire Parke. In the book the main character is a Fallen angel and he is summoned to unite with a Dragon. Since I;m not too deep into it I don't want to elaborate too much incase I don't have the concepts down, but I really like his ideas of Techno-wizards and such.

Finally a little more about me, I have taken up the bard-craft myself and recently wrote and published my own epic-fantasy. If interested please feel free to check that out here http://www.amazon.com/dp/1432791524 P.s The kindle is only a $1.00.

Well I think I've said a novel full, lol so I'll leave it at that, but in closing I'm honored and excited to be part of this group!

[Ben]

Hello everyone! Glad I can be part of the group. I'm a 32 year old from Minnesota that loves reading fantasy but knowledge of the genre is fairly limited. I'm hoping this group can alleviate me of that! Look forward to digging into some books with you guys.

[Bev]

Hi Ben, Joe Hoju and anyone else I missed.

[Bev]

ljrworrall wrote: "Hello fellow fans of the fantasy genre.

I've just joined both website and your reading group. If it is acceptable, I would like to offer a brief introduction. I write in the fantasy genre with a..."

If it is acceptable to the group I would love to volunteer. :)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Joe, Ben, welcome.

[A.L.]

Hi:)
I am Alex, I live in the UK and my day job is in an office. (It is very dull.)
I read fantasy, some sci fi, historical and fantasy romance, erotica, true crime, some crime mystery (Cadfael, columbo, Sherlock Holmes), some historical non fiction, classics etc.

I have just self published an adult dark fantasy that is book 1 of a series (I hope).

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome.

[K]

Hi everyone!

I'm a reader in her late 20s who has loved fantasy/sci-fi ever since watching the old Star Wars movies as a little kid. I've been looking for a group/friends who lean toward fantasy of the not-PNR variety. (Although I'm ashamed to admit that I devoured the Fever series by Karen Marie Moning. I know, I know, me=pot PNR=kettle etc.)

More recently, I've enjoyed the hard-edged style of the First Law trilogy; all the ways music was incorporated into The Name of the Wind; the imaginative magical system of The Night Angel Trilogy; and ASOIAF which has taken epic intrigue to the next level. Oh, and Guy Gavriel Kay - just love his stuff.

But I suppose most people like those at the moment.

Some less obvious things I enjoyed: Heroes Die for being romantic under all that blood and guts; Downside Ghosts because Stacia Kane is so badass; Finnikin of the Rock, which is sweet and very human; Neverwhere (I was surprised that I liked this); and The Bone Doll's Twin which had the girl in me whooping for joy.

Mostly I read for fun, so if a book is entertaining I'm up for it. I'm also up for friend requests if you think our interests align :)

Thanks mods, for giving us this online space to connect over something we all enjoy!

[Robert]

Hi! I'm Rob from Scotland. Been reading since I was first able to organise letters into words and I'm also an amateur (hobby?) writer. I'm a massive fan of Vampires, Supernatural and High Fantasy Epics!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi K and Rob welcome.

[Haydensdad]

Hello everyone, my name is Greg. I live in Nova Scotia and like fantasy of all kinds. Read my first fantasy series in 4th grade with The Chronicles of Narnia Set from the Scholastic book orders. Never really read much fantasy after that.
Discovered David Eddings in high school and loved The Belgariad as well as Katherine Kurtz.

Discovered fantasy again about a year or two ago when I picked up a used copy of

The Eye of the World
and haven't looked back.

Now thanks to all the enablers(and I mean that in the nicest way possible) here on Goodreads my closet runneth over(shelves are full).

Favorite authors not in any particular order













I'm sure the list will grow as more "enablers" recommend more books.

[Angelo]

Hi everyone, my name's Angel. I live in the Philippines. Love to read epic-fantasy (but mostly just fantasy). :)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi, welcome.

[Tash]

Hey Guys,

Well I guess it's about time I introduced myself considering I have been following many of the threads here for quite some time!

I am from Australia and have been reading Fantasy since I was a kid - Can anyone say escapeism?

I am currently updating my read/to read lists as there are so many missing but I read all sorts of Fantasy everything from epic to dark to paranormal romance (I rather enjoy the easy reads many of them give you)! Actually I'm terrible with many books, once I start them I only stop to eat, sleep and work until I finish so I find they are good for those times when you know you will be interuupted!

Favourites Hmmmm. where to start...

Patrick Rothfuss, the darkness but wit of Anne Bishop, Kate Forsyth, Brandon Sanderson, George RR Martin (though having a bit of a break for the moment!).

Recently rather enjoyed Patricia Briggs, Mercedes Lackey, Michelle Sagara/West, Yasmine Galenorn, Elizabeth Moon, Juliet Marillier, Ilona Andrews - ant that is pretty mush this year!

Anyway that's probably too much about me but I am looking for new books/authors to read while the ones I am currently reading are still writing :)!

So nice to meet you all!

Cheers, Tash.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Tash, welcome.

[Bev]

Hi Tash

[Elaine]

hello and welcome Tash and Angelo :)

[Mark]

Hello folks. My name is Mark Nelson. I'm from the inland portion of the pacific northwest, Yakima valley to be exact. I'm a new author, exploring what goodreads is all about before I set up my first giveaway deal. Hadley Rille Books published my first novel, The Poets of Pevana, this June. I'm curious about getting some feedback from those who might have encountered it. Scanning the topics here, it appears there's a TON of interesting things going on among the members the group. EXCELLENT.

[Bev]

Hi Mark.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Mark, welcome.

[Aildiin]

Hi everyone,
time for my introduction.

My name is Franck. I am french and 40 years old and I've been living in Colorado for the past 12 years. I have been a fantasy/scifi fan since I read LOTR when I was 12 years old.
I used to read a lot ( I started to read books in english around 1993) and be very active in the field back when i was in France ( I've met Bradbury, Peter Hamilton, all the big french authors and had a Locus subscription for 12 years) but then I spent more and more time on computer gaming and less and less reading..

Recently thanks to the wonderful device that the kindle is I have started to catch up on my reading and even added thriller/crime books to my tastes ( and I have said bye bye to my 1400 books collection, most of which are still back in France in my parent's basement anyway..).

My favorite modern authors in no particular order are :
- Steven Erikson, Guy Gavriel Kay, J.V. Jones, Michelle West, Peter F Hamilton, David Weber

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Aildiin, welcome.

[Jennifer]

Hi! My name is Jennifer Crow, and I've been reading fantasy since I was a little kid. LOTR is an old favorite, and I've been adding new authors like N. K. Jemison to my favorites this year. I'm currently reading an anthology called The Weird which kept me up way too late last night. I've had short fiction and poetry in the fantasy genre published, and I'm currently looking for a home for a dark fantasy novel set in an alternate pre-Revolution Russia. I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else is reading--not that my To Read pile needs to get any bigger.

[Susan]

Hello everyone! My name is Susan, and I am from PA. I'm still kind of new to the genre, but my favorite authors so far are Terry Goodkind, George RR Martin, Tolkien, and Jacqueline Carey. I am always looking for books to add to my ever growing TBR pile.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome Jennifer and Susan.

[A.L.]

Welcome new people:) I have a large TBR pile too:)

[Ceryino]

Hello everyone, I'm Fritz from Pittsburgh, PA and have been hooked on Fantasy books since I was a kid and first picked up the Dragonlance Chronicles. Some of my favorite authors include, Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, and Dan Abnett just to name a few. Always looking for recommendations from like minded folks.

[Sarah]

Hi,

I'm in Indiana, currently in the middle of a never-ending heatwave, which makes staying inside and reading the perfect escape. I read in different genres but in fantasy some of my favorites are Robert Jordan, Mercedes Lackey, Tolkien, Rowling, Neil Gaiman (just discovered him recently) Terry Pratchett...and I'm looking forward to finding more recommendations here.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Brandon, Sarah, welcome.

[Red]

Sarah wrote: "Hi,

I'm in Indiana, currently in the middle of a never-ending heatwave, which makes staying inside and reading the perfect escape. I read in different genres but in fantasy some of my favorites a..."

Hi, Sarah. I'm with you--fellow suffering Hoosier and fantasy reader. If you haven't read Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book yet, read it next! I also write fantasy set in Indiana.

[Brandon]

Hey y'all! I'm Brandon, and I'm from the Seattle area. I currently work at Nintendo, in a call center where I spend most of my time reading epic fantasy (and getting paid for it - dream job. Well, sort of).

I grew up on a steady sci-fi diet, but was eventually converted to fantasy as an adult and haven't looked back since. My favorite authors are Terry Goodkind, Brandon Sanderson, Patrick Rothfuss, Robert Jordan, and Steven Erikson, among many others.

Discussing fantasy is one of my favorite things to do, so it seemed natural to join this group. And I'm always open to book recommendations!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome Brandon.

[Sarah]

Red wrote:

If you haven't read Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book yet, read it next! I also write fantasy set in Indiana.

Red,
I'll look for it on my next book-finding trip. I found American Gods through an awards list, though at the moment I can't remember which award it won. I wasn't sure what to expect from it but it blew me away.

[SM]

Hi guys,
I'm Stephanie, and I'm from Canada. I'm currently a university student and part-time server. Going to school and working in theory leaves very little time for reading but I always make time-- often going without sleep-- but I can't help it, I love reading!
My favourite authors right now are Neil Gaiman, Guy Gavriel Kay, Terry Goodkind, and Tolkien. If anybody has any author recommendations they would be much appreciated :)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome.

[[deleted user]]

Hello, my name is Kristopher Morris, i finally able to achieve my dream to write a book, and I did! Yay!

Let see, I was born hearing then at age three i turned deaf due to ear infection, but i love to be deaf because i get to sleep quietly without hearing anything at night.

Any question you want to know? And if you have my book and please put a review on it :) :)




Find out more about me in http://moonlightwitches.wix.com/moonl...

[Reading]

Welcome, and lol about the sleeping thing.

[Goede]

Stephanie wrote: "Hi guys,
I'm Stephanie, and I'm from Canada. I'm currently a university student and part-time server. Going to school and working in theory leaves very little time for reading but I always make tim..."

I say; check out Patrick rothfuss and Brent weeks and scott Lynch.
Great writers. Just as the writer of the 'warded man'.

[Susan]

Hi Guys,

Susan Cartwright here. I have lots of favorites but Robert Jorden, George R Martin, Lois McMaster Bujoid, Tad Williams, Catherine Azaro, Anne McCaffery and Orsen Scott card are some.

I was born in Oregon but have been in Australia for er...37 years!

I am particularly keen to have people review my book. If anyone out there is interested in reading and reviewing a SF, Adventure, Romantic Fantasy story - please contact me.

Thanks!

Susan Cartwright

[Goede]

Susan wrote: "Hi Guys,

Susan Cartwright here. I have lots of favorites but Robert Jorden, George R Martin, Lois McMaster Bujoid, Tad Williams, Catherine Azaro, Anne McCaffery and Orsen Scott card are some.

I ..."

What is the synopsis of your book.?

[Susan]

Hey Geode,
WOLF DAWN SYNOPSIS:
Ashton Chayton was born with a powerful gift, a unique inhuman ability. Orphaned, raised by the Red Wolves of Opan, captured and enslaved - he is now free and on the run. Unfortunately everybody wants Ashton. Admiral Jones will torture him to get the secret of his power. Lady Lindha feels he is "The One" as named in Temple prophecy. The influential Lord Andros just wants him dead.

Ashton only wants two things: revenge, and the Lady Lindha. If you had unique powers, wouldn't you use them to get what you want?

WOLF DAWN is currently FREE on AMAZON until the 28th. Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/WOLF-DAWN-Scien...

Both sexes seem to like it so far...I hope you try it. That is the beauty of free - just toss it is it is not for you.
Susan Cartwright

[Tristana]

Hi! I'm Tristana. I'm a RN in Nebraska. I started reading my mom's Mercedes Lackey and dad's Robert Jordan when I was young and went from there. I like anything from epic fantasy to urban fantasy depending on my mood.
Favorite authors
C. E. Murphy
Tolkien
Margaret Wise and Tracey Hickman
Jacqueline Carey
Jim Butcher
George R. R. Martin
Rob Thurman
Anne Bishop
Carol Berg

I'm always looking for new suggestions for authors, especially since my Nook now holds what my overflowing bookshelves do not. :) I'm also always looking to converse with people on a good book--my current options for book conversation are coercing either my best friend or my mom to read something I've read. :)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome Tritsana. Welcome.