SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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Former Introduction Thread
message 5101:
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Mike (the Paladin)
(new)
Jan 31, 2015 09:22AM

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Welcome, Dana. You'll find plenty of everything here, so dig in!


I am glad to be part of this group.
I am a new author. A former professional wrestler, and a 3 time inductee into the United States Martial Arts hall of fame.
My novel, is an alternate fantasy novel. The middle ages never ended, so today there are still knights. I was able to use my background in wrestling and the martial arts and utilize that experience into writing realistic fight scenes.
Thanks again, and proud to be a member of the group.

Huge fantasy/sci fi fan since I was very young. I've been stuck in a forgotten realms setting for a while now, though I've gotten out of that recently for the stormlight and red rising books.
Pittsburgh native, avid reader, runner, outdoorsman, dog lover, blah, blah, etc, etc.
Looking forward to discussing with yinz!

My name's Dino and I'm from Liverpool in the UK. I've already posted a couple of times so I thought I should introduce myself. I'm a big fan of fantasy novels, and have been reading them since I was 11 years old (Elf Queen of Shannara was my first, which was very confusing for me as it was the 3rd of a 4-book series!)
I'm 32 now and have recently published my debut YA fantasy novel, and am still reading a lot of fantasy literature. If anyone has any good recommendations then I'd be happy to hear them. Looking forward to chatting with everyone!
Dino


New member here, new to Goodreads, too, and to be honest, I'm not sure I'm much of a book club person - my own "To Read" list already is hundreds of titles long, and my reading time, alas, limited, so taking on another two books per month in addition seems impossible. My own reading list may intersect with the book club's occasionally, of course - and I've read some 50-odd titles from your group's list so far, if I didn't miscount. Can I stay on as a lurker, or should I leave the group? I have to admit I'm a bit unclear on the rules in that regard.
Even if it is decided that I should leave, though, maybe you can help me with my most urgent question about Goodreads as a new user: where do I go if I just want to talk about the occasional book-related issue - either regarding a particular book, or even more general things? Is there some sort of general forum? In particular I'd be interested in one that focuses on science fiction and fantasy, or speculative fiction in general, but without a book club attached, if possible. To give some examples of things I've been meaning to ask:
1.) Is there some "weird" usage of prepositions in Hannu Rajaniemi's books - or is it just that as a non-native speaker I'm simply not familiar with some of the more unusual usages? I remember being surprised several times by prepositions used in the two books of the Jean le Flambeur trilogy that I've read so far - one example I remember, because it occurred twice, was things being described as being "in the horizon" instead of "on the horizon". The reason this interests me is because I also write in English as a non-native speaker, and in my experience, even when you've reached a high enough level of proficiency to start writing fiction in a second language, there's still always going to be some small things that'll occasionally trip you up - and prepositions frequently are one of those things, for non-native speakers of English. So I'm wondering if that's what I'm seeing here, or if it's just common typos, or if it's all totally correct and just unfamiliar to me. So - did any native speakers who read those books notice anything "weird" about the prepositions?
2.) What's going on with the quality of TOR books/reprints lately? I fairly recently got the three books of the Short Sun series by Gene Wolfe, which I remembered, from encountering them in bookshops some years ago, as originally being done in a style similar to the other Sun books by Gene Wolfe, i.e. fairly soft, matte covers, fairly thin paper, crisp, clean print. The books I received from amazon, however, were different: slightly larger, and with thicker, shiny covers (still the same cover art, though) and thicker paper (ok, the latter isn't necessarily bad... though as shelf space is at a premium in my flat, I prefer thinner paper - I have to admit the thicker paper of these later books is of better quality, though). Now, all of this wouldn't have been an issue - and the better paper is mostly a plus, really, space issues aside. But the print quality has gone downhill dramatically - the print is a runny mess now. The letters have lost all crispness, instead they rather remind me of those old, blurry, purple worksheets we used to get in school before the school got a photocopier - mimeograph copies I think they were? The severity of the problem varies from book to book - one of the three books has fairly crisp print, one's of middling quality, and one's atrocious. The same's true of the TOR reprints of Kage Baker's Company series. I have a slightly older, nice-quality version of the first book in that series (with the soft, matte cover, and nice, crisp print), but the two after that are like the "Sun" books I described above, including the blurry/runny print issue. Does anyone know if this is an issue that only occurs with certain print runs (and if so, is there a way to avoid the books that have these problems)? Is it a reprints-only thing? Or have they, I dunno, changed printers permanently and that's how all TOR books are going to come out from now on?
- So, yeah, as you can see these are fairly odd and minor questions, but there has to be some place where it would be appropriate to talk about things like that, right? I'd really appreciate it if you could point me there!
Sorry to misuse the introductions thread for this, btw. I realise that as introductions go, it's a rather poor one.

Christina, but call me Hmpf, as I've been called that in all fannish/geeky situations for well over 15 years now. 38 years old, somewhere in Germany, studied all sorts of things for rather too long a time, none of them very useful in so-called Real Life. Now dividing my working time between being a goldsmith and being a call center drone (customer service, not sales or anyting like that). My spare time, what there is of it (and subtracting the time spent hanging out on the internet, *cough*), is mostly spent reading. On that account, I'm sometimes gratful for my long commute, because that makes for prime reading time...
Currently reading: Lois McMaster Bujold: The Curse of Chalion.
Last read: Hannu Rajaniemi: The Fractal Prince.
Next up: Kage Baker: Mendoza in Hollywood. And after that, probably, Peter Watts: Blindsight.
Hmpf: I'm not a moderator, and can't tell you whether you "have to" leave, but common sense suggests that if someone is interested in books, their interest isn't limited to two titles a month. Put your comments and questions up as you think of them, and chances are good that they'll spark interesting conversations. Welcome to the site and the group, and best of luck!



Hi Hmpf,
I don’t typically participate in the group reads either. I too have limited reading time and a large backlog of books I already own that I want to read. I’m more interested in getting through my own list, even though the group reads a lot of books that look interesting and I would like to read them someday. My theory is that, if I want to read the books the group is reading, and if I want to read the books I already own, and if I don’t have time for both, then it’s more logical to read the books I already own. But, if the group reads something that happens to be in my backlog, it can be fun to read as part of a group. It’s nice to be able to discuss the book in more detail while it’s fresh in your mind and fresh in the minds of the people you’re discussing it with.
When I first joined Goodreads, I tried to find a Science Fiction and/or Fantasy group that didn’t do club reads, but the group searching functionality was painful and I gave up after scrolling through several dozen descriptions of clubs that mostly didn’t even fit the genre I was looking for, much less my more specific requirements. I stuck with this group because they seem to have the most active and numerous non-group-read-related discussions out of any of the groups I found. There are plenty of conversations outside of the group read conversations and, without ever having actually counted, I would say those outside conversations comprise a larger portion of the posts in this group. So there’s plenty of conversations to participate in here even if you don’t do the club reads.
I don’t participate often, but I browse the threads pretty often and I jump in when I have the time and motivation to do so. I joined probably a year ago, and nobody has ever harassed me about not participating in the club reads. The rules for the group can be found at the top of the main group page and I think, as long as you don’t break any of those rules, there will be no issues.
I don’t think all that many people read this thread regularly, but you would probably get a response to your topics if you posted them under the “Members Chat” topic within this group. Maybe as two separate posts since they aren’t directly related.

Thanks for the tip, Charles - The Dark Thorn does look good. It's great that you got to meet Terry Brooks as well. I'd love to some day myself!

I am a gypsy chemist by trade, and I try to read everything I can get my hands on. I look forward to fleshing out lists and reviews.
I started out reading Bradbury, and Harlan Ellison, and whatever short story anthologies my dad would bring home. Philip Dick, Larry Niven and Roger Zelazny are giants in my cosmology.

I'm currently reading:
* Firefight (Reckoners #2) by Brandon Sanderson
This is a list of books I've been reading this last few weeks (since the holidays):
* Tower Lord (Raven's Shadow #2) by Anthony Ryan
* The Crown Tower (The Riyria Chronicles #1) by Michael J. Sullivan
* Sparrow Hill Road (Ghost Stories #1) by Seanan McGuire
* A Guile of Dragons (A Tournament of Shadows #1) by James Enge

I'm 48 from Portsmouth, England. I've been interested in SF as long as I can remember as well as general reading at times I can't remember. Apparently I used to hide under the kitchen table on a Sunday afternoon to read my books as early as age 4, although I have no memory of this!
I've been a cabbie for many years now and usually read between jobs. Work has dried up in recent years (too many drivers) so I find I know usually do fares between reading.
I've decided to give some Fantasy books a go as I've been reading nearly all SF for a long time now. Any recommendations would be welcome. Preferably recent and not too far into a series.
I'm currently reading The Martian by Andy Weir. Only a few chapters in but its one of those I know I'm going to like straight away.
Take care everyone.
Steve

I was born in '87. I was born and grew up in Virginia (grew up in Northern, college in south western) but after college went crazy and drove to Los Angeles.
I'm trying to read more and different things. Trying to be a writer type person and like my netflix queue, my Goodreads queue is really big. Joining this and a couple other groups is my attempt to weed out the crappy ones (or at least space out the crappy ones with some good ones).
What I usually read is urban fantasy. I try to get into scifi but usually get scared off before I really start (my brain doesn't accept hard scifi. I am totally okay with a wizard doing it). Starting to drift into the Steampunks and similar. I'm just really nervous about starting with a new author.
-Xander

Thanks, James

I was sure I introduced myself, but I've been hi-ing and hello-ing, a number of times, this past month or so...
I was sure I said hello. Or hi, at least.
Hello.



I'm a stay at home mom. I have three kids- one's in college and the others are homeschooled. I'm a former elementary and middle school teacher.
I have over 12,000 books (of the dead tree variety) and have read all but about 300-400. During periods of my life when I'm busy, I read about 400 books a year. When life isn't hectic, I read 700-1000+ books a year.
Like many, I'm an aspiring author. And like most writers, I'm here as a reader. After all, writers who aren't passionate readers tend to be, well, bad writers. (Plus, I have nothing to promote. I'm about six months from doing the agent hunt. So, best case scenario- which assumes I land an agent and a publishing contract- I'm at least 2 1/2 years away from being published.)
Looking forward to meeting everyone and the March group reads are on my TBR and I'm looking forward to reading and discussing them.

My name is Jon, born in 85, and are currently studying MFA in creative Writing at Kingston University, London. I am new to the whole Goodreads concept, so I will try to become more active. I love fantasy and my favourite so far is The Way of Kings, just because of its ability to create a sense of a different and very appealing world. I recently finished Partials; Way too many adverbs, to be fully enjoyed. Currently I am struggling through Moby-Dick; or, The Whale after a recommendation by my teacher, and hope to get time to read The Gormenghast Novels soon. I found this group through a forum recommending it through a blog, cannot remember the blog now.
A few words about my own style of writing. I am from Norway, and are fascinated by Trolls, (not the internet trolls, but "real" trolls). The project I am currently working on is a fantasy-trilogy and I hope to have a complete draft of first book by the end of the year. Have so far worked 5 years on the project. If any have any thoughts about trolls, whether they like them, hate them, or books to recommend me reading, I would really appreciate it. It is easy enough to think all the ideas in my own mind are amazing, but it would be interesting to hear what the rest of the world thinks.
Looking forward to discuss books with you!
*Hope I did not break any rules in this thread :)
All the best
Jon

My name is Jon, born in 85, and are currently studying MFA in creative Writing at Kingston University, London."
Hey.
I'm in Kingston, Ontario and nearly every time I search for something about our local Queen's University, I get stuff about Kingston University, as well.
Jon wrote: "I am from Norway, and [am] fascinated by Trolls"
I loved the movie Troll Hunter.
And Titus Groan is phenomenal writing.

Hey.
I'm in Kingston, Ontario and nearly every time I search for something about our local Queen's University, I get stuff about Kingston University, as well"
I loved the movie Troll Hunter
And Titus Groan is phenomenal writing
I agree. I had a good laugh, watching Trollhunter! Looking forward to dive into Titus Groan!

Hi Mike :) My 6 year old was just asking me yesterday at dinner what a paladin is as it came up in a Minecraft mod as a player class you could choose.

Now all my friends here know what I'm going to ask you...
Have you read The Deed of Paksenarrion? It's probably the best book about a Paladin I know of. It's about a young woman who wants to be a fighter and her eventual development into a Paladin. The book is a trilogy in one volume.

No, I haven't read The Deed of Paksenarrion...I'll have to add it to that never ending TBR list we all maintain, right? :)


:)



Let me tell you a bit about myself: I'm a rabid reader and writer - like others, I abandoned my writing for a career in IT but I've never forgotten it. In fact, I love it so much that I've been writing it since 2008.
My love of sci-fi and of writing have come together to form a Voltron-like structure of passion to become a full-time creative professional. I go into more detail here but I think you can understand why I'd want to take something I'm passionate about and turn it into a full-time job! :)
Aside from my own stuff, sci-fi has been my first and best love :). My desert island top-five sci-fi novels would have to be Neuromancer, The Postman, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, The Diamond Age and Enders Game.
I love telling stories - mostly dystopia and scifi. In fact - one of my prized possessions is my original Blade Runner one-sheet that I have hanging in my office. It collects all of my Comic-Con contribution tags (http://i.imgur.com/oZL9d5Ul.jpg).
Thanks for having me here - I look forward to getting to know all of you! :)
Best wishes,
Dan H.
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