Introductions - tell us a little about yourself Showing 351-400 of 3,618

[Donald]

Ok. I'm Donald, or Big Don. I am a born and registered citizen of Vermont, but am currently away at college. I've been reading fantasy as long as I have been reading. To name the top members of my list of favorite authors, I would say: David Gemmell, Glen Cook, and Terry Pratchett. Thats is just a few, but my reading spans many types. I look foreward to discussing these, and all that are offered.

[Kat]

I'm Kat. In my real life, I'm a part-time college professor and I've got 5 kids. We live in Florida. In my other life, I'm the administrator at Fantasy Literature , a book review site.

[Tanya]

John wrote: "Hi Tanya and Michelle, welcome to the group :-). Tanya, your reading speed is most impressive. I'm lucky if I get a book read a month..."

lol its a very expensive curse because i have to own the books if i like them Ally thinks my shelves are gonna fall on me as they're too full

[Kristen]

Hello! I'm Kristen and I work in a college library by night and a middle school library by day. So I try my best to read both adult and YA books and have always loved fantasy. Some of my favorite YA fantasy authors right now are Rick Riordan, Philip Pullman, Melissa Marr, Cassandra Clare, Eoin Colfer, Jessica Day George. My favorite adult authors include Neil Gaiman, Charles DeLint, Patricia Briggs, Kim Harrison, Maria V. Synder... the list goes on and on. I love reading so much it occupies what little free time I have that is not spent out with my fiance. I tend to read 2 or 3 books at a time and always reach towards fantasy first when choosing a book to read.

[[deleted user]]

I am also a cross genre reader. Do you find yourself alternating genres to keep up with the pace of publication? Sci-Fi this week, Fantasy next, romance, the following....

[Barbm1020]

I read mainstream fiction and nonfiction (I like current events) and then fantasy as an antacid when the news upsets me.

[John]

Barbm1020 wrote: "I read mainstream fiction and nonfiction (I like current events) and then fantasy as an antacid when the news upsets me."

You must read a great deal of fantasy, then ;).

[Blurb]

Hi -

Hi everyone -

I'm new to Good Reads. I took a break for a couple years from reading fantasy, but decided to start again in the last couple of months and am now trying to read my way through the best of what everyone has written in the last couple of years -- I'm a pretty fast reader who can read a book in a day if I like it. Past favorie authors include Jennifer Fallon, GRRM and Jordan. For new, I loved the Name of the Wind and I liked (but was a bit underwhelmed after all the hype) Mistborn. After reading what people said here about Michael Sullivan's book, I'm looking forward to reading that as soon as I can find a copy (my BN didn't have one).

[John]

Welcome to the site and to the group, Blurb. I hope we can recommend some books you'll enjoy. If you're a fan of GRRM, you might want to try Steven Erikson, for starters.

[Blurb]

Thanks! I actually got one of his books from the library and that I'm going to start reading soon

[Chris]

Hey bunch of new people.....welcome

[Barbm1020]

John, you are so right! lol Just finished Neverwhere. It was a great read. Gaiman makes his other worlds very vivid and thrilling, I find.

Jane, you mention Sheri Tepper - I haven't thought about her in years, but I remember liking Raising the Stones. Have you read that one?

[Heather]

Hi, I am a book-addicted busy mom. I live in Massachusetts with my boys and my husband. Reading and gaming are my main entertainment. Some of my favorite authors are; Anne Bishop, Christopher Moore, S.M. Stirling, Caitlin Kiernan, H.P. Lovecraft, Jasper Fforde, Tolkien, and Guy Gavriel Kay. I also read a lot of nonfiction and of course gaming books, mostly Call of Cthulhu. (the game I currently run)

I also paint and make crafts and attempt to garden... not very successfully. I seem to have missed out on the gene that makes one a good gardener and, so far, all the books I have read haven't helped! ^_^ I think I need remedial help.

Thanks for letting me join this group. I hope to get here often enough to get to know you all.
~Heather

[Janny]

Heather wrote: "Hi, I am a book-addicted busy mom. I live in Massachusetts with my boys and my husband. Reading and gaming are my main entertainment. Some of my favorite authors are; Anne Bishop, Christopher Moo..."

Hi Heather - that's quite a varied list of authors. Where in Massachusetts?

[Heather]

Hi Janny, I am in Western Mass in a fairly rural town but have good access to civilization.

I could list so many more authors that I love no less than those but I have a hard time keeping all their names in my head. Sarah Ash is fairly new and I like her stuff a lot so far. I read Bill Bryson, Mercedes Lackey, James White, Edgar Allan Poe, etc etc. And I am always looking for something new. ^_^ I like all sorts of stuff, most of what I read is Fantasy or Dark Fantasy but I like Sci-Fi, Non-Fiction, Humor, Travel, Horror and some occasional straight-up fiction. The books that make my husband roll his eyes are the ones I read on history. I like to read how people lived day to day, how they fed themselves, how they made clothes and built things, what they did for fun. I also like to read about the history of books and reading which for him is the icing on the cake. ^_^ I think its facinating, he thinks its a snoozefest. lol

Nice to meet you!

[Kathy]

Hi everyone,

Robin Sullivan kicked me in the butt (kind of) and said that I really should check out the Fantasy group on GR. I am already a member of the Sci Fi and Fantasy book club but am more of a fantasy girl.

I have a ton of books that I like, but I feel that I have barely scratched the surface in such a prominent genre. If only there were 28 hours in a day, I might be able to get more reading done. Fantasy is my love, but I also like good real-life stories/biopics, suspense (was into Dean Koontz for a while), and the occasional romance as long as it's in a book with a plot (i.e. Outlander series by Gabaldon). None of this 5 dollar mass market romance business.

Authors that I have recently read: Tolkein, CS Lewis, Terry Goodkind, Salvatore (Drizzt is the bomb), Guy Gavriel Kay, Michael J. Sullivan (will the 3rd Riyria book come out already???), Melanie Rawn, and Brandon Sanderson. I am also eagerly anticipating the upcomine Wheel of Time trifecta to finish off the whole series.

Anyway, I hope to get some wonderful ideas for new authors to try and new works to read!

[Libby]

Kathy wrote: "Hi everyone,

Robin Sullivan kicked me in the butt (kind of) and said that I really should check out the Fantasy group on GR. I am already a member of the Sci Fi and Fantasy book club but am mor..."

Kathy - good to see you here. I'm in the SciFi / Fantasy group as well and enjoy being in both - especially because like you I'm more Fantasy than SciFi. It's fun to see how the discussions take on a different atmosphere in each group.

[Heather]

Hi Kathy,
I love Drizzt too! He is one of my heroes. Can't believe I forgot R. A. Salvatore in my list. I guess I haven't read my Drizzt books for a while. ^_^

[Janny]

Kathy wrote: "Hi everyone,

Robin Sullivan kicked me in the butt (kind of) and said that I really should check out the Fantasy group on GR. I am already a member of the Sci Fi and Fantasy book club but am mor..."

Hi Kathy - -

I generally tell Guy Kay readers to try Sarah Zettel - her Isavolta series is brilliant, done with style, with lovely characters. She also writes splendid SF.

I'd suggest, in Salvatore's bent, David Gemmell.

If you liked Sullivan, you may also enjoy Dennis Mckiernan.

If you liked Melanie Rawn - try Katherine Kerr or Jennifer Roberson.

I've read Sanderson and C S Lewis, too, but I can't think of a tight match, there, off the cuff. I've started Acacia by David Anthony Durham - his writing of characters has sort of the same "feel" to it, as Sanderson, but truthfully, I'm not far enough into the work to determine how it will strike me, yet.

[Chris]

Welcome Heather.....and Kathy, though we've spoken already....glad Robin kicked your butt over here....

[Kay]

Hello Everyone
I'm Kay in england - i have always been a fan of fantasy - though i prefer urban and folk lore based work like charles delint. I adore robert holdstock's mythogo wood series and of course - tolkien!
also a big fan of Terry Brooks shannara series :) and first got into them about 20 years ago!
i devour books and go through about 5-8 a month depending. I used to work in a second hand bookshop and i write short stories and fiction

[John]

Welcome to the group, Heather, Kathy and Saharial :-).

[Barbm1020]

Kay, I've read some Charles DeLint books and found them quite memorable. I think it would be better if I knew the Canadian towns, but the characters and the magic system are great.

Urban fantasy is wonderful to me. Neverwhere is a great example. A bit remeniscent of the old New York-based TV series "Beauty and the Beast" - don't know if that played in England?

[Jaime]

Hello, all!

I'm a 33 yr. old IT guys from Long Island, NY (though originally I was an upstate boy) and the Fantasy genre had been my favorite ever since I was a kid and my mom gave me a collection of Narnia books. I moved from those to the old TSR Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms books (so many trilogies, so many dog-eared pages in my youth). Then I found Tolkien and later Brooks, and I've never looked back.

My favorite authors include JRRT, GRRM, Jordan, Goodkind, Brooks, McKiernan, Weeks, Cook, Erikson, Rowling, Gaiman, Eddings, Feist, Williams, Salvatore, and Howard. I enjoy all kinds of Fantasy - epic or high to hack n' slash and everything in between.

I'm a fairly voracious reader, and recently converted over to the Kindle because I was fast running out of room for my "library" in my apartment. I enjoy reading all kinds of fiction, though I always seem to return to Fantasy.

I hope to take part in the monthly book readings soon, and hope to join in on some fun conversations!

[John]

Welcome to the group, Jaime. You really do sound as though you like anything that could possibly be labeled "fantasy" :-). Of all the authors you listed, the only one I haven't read is McKiernan. In fact, I'm drawing a blank on the name (though in my defense, it's been a long day). Anyway, welcome aboard. Look forward to chatting with ya.

[Chris]

Welcome, Saharial and Jaime...

[Janny]

John wrote: "Welcome to the group, Jaime. You really do sound as though you like anything that could possibly be labeled "fantasy" :-). Of all the authors you listed, the only one I haven't read is McKiernan. I..."

Hi to Saharial, and Jaime. What a list of books! That's quite a spread.

John - Dennis McKiernan would be the "opposite" of R. E. Howard - he writes very lovely, lyrical stories with a faerytale like feel to them - they are sweet reads, have plenty of action, plucky characters, and a lot of heart. I am always startled - because I don't "think" I'm that heavily invested, until somebody dies and I am shocked to find I'm crying! These reads are not like Martin, not that gritty - more in line of heroic myth.

For fantasy, I liked his book Voyage of the Fox Rider very much, that's a good place to try out his Mithgar series, as it pretty well stands on its own. I also loved his one SF book, Caverns of Socrates, about futuristic "real time" gaming - which is probably his most sophisticated work, with the most grit and depth of the whole spread.

[Leslie Ann]

Hi to all the newcomers!

Saharial, a.k.a. Kay--Terry Brooks is one of my fave authors and the man most responsible for setting my feet on the road to becoming a published author. If it hadn't been for his kind words to me at the L.A. Times Festival of Books in 2001, I might not have ever written my fantasy trilogy.

[Allison]

hi everybody! I can't believe I just found this group...you are (and have been) reading a ton of stuff I've either already read or am interested in reading.

I love a lot of YA fantasy, most recently my favorites are Graceling by Kristin Cashore and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins...and my favorite of all time is, of course, Harry Potter.

I have recently started His Dark Materials and the Sevenwaters Trilogy, both of which I've seen some comments about around here.

I noticed y'all read Name of the Wind not too long ago, I just bought the paperback version, I plan on reading it soon.

[DavidO]

Hello,

I'm new to this group. I mostly like reading epic fantasy, my first experience in the genre was The Chronicles of Narnia, and I suppose I've been trying to find books just as good since then. My favorites are Harry Potter, Narnia, Wheel of Time, and the Amber Series. I look forward to discovering more authors here.

[[deleted user]]

Welcome David,

I loved reading the Chronicles of Narnia. They inspired me to become an author...

Jo-Ann

[Chris]

Hi and welcome, David and Allison.....we're almost at 666 members now...

[Chy]

Hellow there.

I've wanted to join a book club for a long time, but it's never been convenient for me to go to meetings. So an online book club is perfect. I also see that you guys have read or are about to read a lot of things I have either read or have had sitting on my shelf begging to be read for a while.

I didn't start really getting into fantasy until a few years ago. My gateway books were those in the Vlad Taltos series by Steven Brust. They remain some of my favorite books.

Oh, I'd read a few fantasies before that, but those were the books that made me seek fantasy for the sake of fantasy.

Since then I've discovered and grown to love Robin McKinley, and even, in a strange and somewhat frightening way, RA Salvatore. I follow Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, but that's more of an addiction than a true love.

Other than that, it's hard to pick out "favorite authors" because I've only read one book by each of a few others, and while I really liked them, it doesn't feel right to then say, "That's one of my favorite authors."

I'm looking to discover more authors and more books. I'm also craving some good discussion from all different viewpoints. Can't wait to see how it goes.

[[deleted user]]

Hi Chy,

You will love goodreads, there so much good stuff here.

Jo-Ann

[John]

Welcome to our fast-growing group, David and Chy.

[Janny]

Oh, cool, a Steven Brust reader, and another who appreciates Zelazny.

Hello David and Chy.

[DavidO]

Hello Janny, John, and Chris.

[Chy]

*delight* Zelazny's on my list of "gotta read."

Thanks for the welcomes, everybody.

[Colin]

Hi all,

I signed up to join the group a few days ago, but neglected at the time to drop in and say hello.

I'm more an epic fantasy reader, with a good dash of popular science and history thrown in. Some good reads of late have been George Martin's series, Collapse by Jared Diamond, and a host of Viking histories.

Right now I'm reading Robin Hobb (I've not tried her before) and am also starting Erikson's series. Brent Week's Shadow trilogy and Name of the Wind are waiting for me in the wings. There's been a great buzz about Name of the Wind, so I look forward to reading it.

[Chris]

Welcome Colin and Chy....

The Name of the Wind is highly recommended, though you'll be wanting Book 2 immediately and it's not quite finished yet.

[Colin]

Hi Chris,

Yes, I've heard some of the chatter about it. At least it's not as late as Martin's "Dance with Dragons"

I'm not far into the Erikson series, Malazan, and while I was only getting there slowly, I'm now starting to get more drawn in. I suspect that might push "Name of the Wind" back in anycase, plus there's always real life trying to intrude.

We'll see how it all goes.

[Tatiana]

Good morning!
I'm also new here and joined with the purpose to find a place to chat about books in genres I am interested in. None of my friends or acquaintances read fantasy books for some odd reason...it completely boggles my mind. Just off the top of my head some of the books I have devoured (and enjoyed) are: LOTR, Harry Potter, Wheel of Time, Song of Ice and Fire, and much more. Currently I am flying through the Discworld series (I'm on Equal Rites), which I am enjoying immensely! I hope to come here more frequently to pick up ideas for what to read next or to add to my bookshelf of pending books!!!
Tatiana

[Chris]

Colin - you're not kidding. Tolkien is releasing books at a faster rate than Martin and he's been dead for 35 years. Oh, and I very much love the Malazan series too....

Welcome, Tatiana.....you have a good list there too...

[Libby]

Tatiana wrote: "Currently I am flying through the Discworld series (I'm on Equal Rites), which I am enjoying immensely!

Tatiana - always glad to have another Pratchett fan. The Discworld series only gets better as you go so you'll love it! If you love Terry you'll likely like everything by Neil Gaiman - start with Good Omens which is by both of them and up next for this club. Also, I'm currently reading my first Connie Willis novel - To Say Nothing of the Dog and LOVE it. I know I'm behind the times on this one but I just hadn't heard of her until recently. Same kind of very funny paraody.

[John]

Welcome Colin and Tatiana. Great to meet two more GRRM fans :-).

[Tatiana]

Colin wrote: "Hi all,

I signed up to join the group a few days ago, but neglected at the time to drop in and say hello.

I'm more an epic fantasy reader, with a good dash of popular science and history th..."



Colin! What did you think of Jared Diamond? I have spent quite a bit of time reading his work.

[Martha]

Hi - I'm a huge fantasy fan - love Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series; also enjoyed The Name of the Wind and Sarah Monette's Labyrinthine series. Scott Lynch (Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies) and am waiting IMpatiently for Republic of Thieves. Terry Pratchett is another favorite and he's got a ton of stuff out.

[Colin]

Tatiana:

I read Collapse a little while ago, and I thought it was great. The odd chapter slowed down, but overall it was an entertaining and solid read. Guns Germs & Steel is on my horizon now - in fact, he must be due for something new soon!



As I read Collapse, I also read The World Without Us, and have worked some of the ideas from both of those books into my own (failing societies and the decay of infrastructure with the passage of time). Too much fantasy is static, with little real history, or even glimpses of a future looming on the horizon.

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Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series has a good effort at solid history founding the world, but too much fantasy will happily host 10,000 year old cultures/empires/cities which from all accounts have changed little over such long timespans.

I don't just want a solid and dramatic story, I want it in a world that could be real (not just physically, but in regards to its history and societies). Mountains might take an age to wear down, but certainly not cities, empires and peoples.

Nothing stands still.

[John]

Welcome aboard, Martha. Look forward to chatting fantasy with you. Hopefully we can recommend some more series you'll enjoy.

[David]

Hi

I devour 3 or 4 books per month, most of which are Fantasy, with the occasional Sci-fi thrown in for seasoning. I started out with Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs, but my all time favorite authors are Terry Brooks, David Gemmell and Timothy Zaun. Fantasy novels eventually became such an influential part of my life that six years ago I decided write my own novel. I self published FireDrakes in 2007. Currently, I am working on the final draft of the sequel, Sorceress.

David Korinetz