SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
Members' Chat
>
Former Introduction Thread
Welcome :) im sure you'll find plenty of good recommendations here, and I know weve got more than a few Hobb fans around.
Hi, I'm Ron, a retired teacher from Buffalo NY and, from what I can gather from these posts, one of the "geezers" in this group. I've been reading SciFi/Fantasy since the early 60's, and what amazes me are the incredible new worlds that open up when you discover an author for the first time. From Heinlein, Clarke and Assimov to Herbert, Niven and Le Guin to Pratchett, Gaiman and Jordan to most recently Willis, Sawyer and Mieville there always seems to be some new author out there ready to expand my horizons beyond their current limits. Maybe that's why Jo Walton's Among Others struck such a chord. Anyway, I'm hoping to continue to expand those horizons with suggestions from this group. Thanks
Hi,I am Kate and live in Dedham, MA (just outside of Boston). I attend Boskone, ReaderCon and Arisia. I test software for a living.
I enjoy mysteries, history, science fiction and fantasy. I am a very optimistic person regarding my life span to judge by to-be-read pile. I enjoyed hard copies, ebook editions and audio to boot.
Lately I have been reading Robin Hobb. I am almost done with Dragon Haven. It has been a slow go as I prefer her Farseer books and dragons are not a particular favorite. Next on the list is Allen Steele's Apollo's Outcasts and Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep.
I am Mary Ellen from San Diego CA. I like short stories best although I have read the Lord of the Rings. Harry Turtledove is one of my favorites with his alternate histories, Ray bradbury.
Thanks for the welcome. After I had finished my initial post it occurred to me I had left out one of my favorite authors - Harry Turtledove. Nice to see Mary Ellen putting it out there!
Hi all. Several have arrived, welcome.
Hey everyone. I'm a longtime reader of speculative fiction, starting back when I was in high school. Over the past few years I've taken up writing as well.I love the power of story, particularly the imaginative tales which take our focus off the mundane things that consume our daily lives and help us see what's real.
You may have heard this great quote from Chesterton, but it sums up well why I read and write this kind of literature: "Fairy tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten."
I love that quote. There's a C.S. Lewis quote I love to, "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."Welcome.
Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "I love that quote. There's a C.S. Lewis quote I love to, "Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."Thanks for the welcome, Mike.
I love that quote as well. Lewis is actually my favorite author.
He himself liked Chesterton. I'm a huge Lewis fan as well. have you ever read Lilith? George MacDonald was a favorite of Lewis. This is one of my favorites by him. He also understood the importance of fairy tales.
Yes, amazing how following Lewis leads you to so many other authors. I discovered both MacDonald and Chesterton through him.I have read Lilith. The ending is one of the most beautiful passages I've ever read, though, like much of MacDonald, the book itself is wrapped in mystery. My favorite of MacDonald's though, is a short story, "The Wise Woman or the Lost Princess: a Double Story".
I've only read one of Chesterton's and that was "The Man Who Was Thursday" which was quite good though it fell off a bit at the end.
You have great taste in literature, Mike. Further up and further in!
Hi, my name is David Walton. I'm a long-time SF/F reader and I've been to a few cons. I'm currently reading The Black Prism, Whispers from the Underground, and Stephen Baxter's Ark. Some of my favorites are Patrick Rothfuss's novels, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, and many of Robert Charles Wilson's.I'm also an SF/F author, with a book coming out soon from Tor... which I will of course only talk about in the appropriate venue. [clamps hand firmly over mouth]
David wrote: "Hi, my name is David Walton. I'm a long-time SF/F reader and I've been to a few cons. I'm currently reading The Black Prism, Whispers from the Underground, and Stephen Baxter's Ark. Some of my f..."Hi David - who is the author of Whispers from the Underground? Thanks from another David.
Whispers from the Underground is by Ben Aaronovitch. It's the third in a series of fantasy murder mysteries, kind of a Men In Black with the London Metropolitan Police. I've really enjoyed the series; original plot and characters and a lot of clever humor.
David wrote: "Hi, my name is David Walton. I'm a long-time SF/F reader and I've been to a few cons. I'm currently reading The Black Prism, Whispers from the Underground, and Stephen Baxter's Ark. Some of my f..."oooh i'm a big Wilson fan .... although i wasn't hugely fond of Julian Comstock. not that it wasn't a fine novel it was just too much historical-speculative rather than 'real' sci fi. it's just a personal preference.
My thoughts exactly! I loved Spin, Darwinia, Blind Lake, The Chronoliths, all of which have a lot in common. Julian Comstock I couldn't even finish. It's not that I have a problem with historical-speculative, either, but that one just didn't catch my interest.
Hi everyone. My name is Jeff and I'm from Connecticut. I've been a SciFi fan for what seems like forever. I remember watching Dr. Who on PBS back in the Tom Baker days.I'm a real fan of things like Incarnations of Immortality but also like real high brow fantasy like the Myth series by Robert Aspirin.
I'm a computer programmer by trade so I guess I live up to the stereotype. (SciFi Geek.)
For those who like Spin, remember you can vote for it for the March group read.
How? I don't see a March group read thread. Or is that yet to be created?
Welcome welcome! David wrote: "How? I don't see a March group read thread. Or is that yet to be created?"
The polls can be found here:
http://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/18...
Happy reading :)
Hi folks. I joined GoodReads a few weeks ago and am still finding my way around. Currently working my way through the Discworld books (yes, all of them!), but by 'storyline' not published order. I hope to meet some like minded people hear and get some good ideas for new reads.
Jeff wrote: "Hi folks. I joined GoodReads a few weeks ago and am still finding my way around...."I joined nearly a year ago - and am still finding my way around!
Good luck with the Discworld - the stories interweave so that while 'threads' exist they aren't clear-cut. Publish order worked well for me. Don't forget the Tiffany Aching set - they are on Discworld because the witches appear, but are rather sideways from the main theme, and intended more for children than the rest of Discworld. And don't forget 'Strata' - a very early Pratchett, pre-discworld, where he played with a discworld as a technological rather than a magical artefact. It is NOT part of the discworld series, but makes a fascinating study of how some of his idea developed in the early days.
Hello, my name is Thomas Cardin and I am a new author. I just self published my first book. I love to read science fiction and fantasy. On the sci fi side of things I love Asimov and Niven on the hard side, and on the softer side I love Hugh Howey, Randolph Lalonde's spinward fringe and BV Larson's star force.On the fantasy side I am much more difficult to please, I adore Dennis L. Mckiernan, Tolkien puts me to sleep. I love Robin Hobb as well. I am having a much harder time finding an independant that writes fantasy for me, I love high fantasy with chivalric characters and epic plots, I snooze at court intrigue (sorry GRRM) and morally ambiguous lead characters just make me pull my hair out and start rule's lawyering believability when they just happen to keep doing the "right thing".
That said, I did enjoy David Dalglish's half orc brothers. One of my favorite fantasy's has been the Basil Brokentail books by Christopher Rowley, all out of print now and not available in ebook.
So that makes me a pretty crotchety and picky fantasy reader, but if anyone has some suggestions for me, please friend me and lay it on me. Caution, I may steer your toward reading my own stories :)
Hello fellow sisters and brothers of the writing/fantasy world. My name is J.W.Baccaro. I live in upstate New York with my wife (and in two months time our son, for she is expected to deliver April 16th), and of course our two dogs and three cats. I just discovered this group! :)
I'm the author of the epic/dark fantasy series "Guardian of the Seventh Realm." There are five books that make up the series, titled "Prophecy of the Guardian," "Siege of Darkness," "The Coming of the Light," "The Sword of Righteousness," and "Rise of the Guardian."
I am currently working on a new novel in relation to my former series. It's titled "A Darkness in the Light."
Looking forward to getting to know some of you, and conversing about fantasy and possibly other topics in relation. :)
There is a new geezer in town. I am Linda and I was born in, are you ready for this, 1948! I love Sci-Fi Fiction Fantasy.I especially like the Urban Fantasy, the ones that are not completely pornofied. I have no one to discuss these books with as all my piers are "just horrified by these awful books". So I am in the closet so to speak as a SFFF reader. I am an Aquatic Fitness Instructor at my local Y. My area of expertise is Arthritis exercise. I also give Deep Water Running classes. I mostly read via audio books. The old eye sight ain't what she use to be, although I do find I can now read e-books on my iPad. With the audio books I can crochet while I read. I live near an AFB and I make small afghan for our troops going to the desert countries. It gets very cold in the desert at night as some of you may know. Also the airplanes are very cold, I know because a couple of times I flew on the C-5 Galaxy. Any way that's my story and I am sticking to it. Oh I have read tons of books, 65 years worth.
Linda wrote: "There is a new geezer in town. I am Linda and I was born in, are you ready for this, 1948! I love Sci-Fi Fiction Fantasy.I especially like the Urban Fantasy, the ones that are not completely porno..."
Hi Linda! :)
Has anyone here ever read Madeline Howard's "Rune of Unmaking?" I really love that book, and also the follow-up "A Dark Sacrifice." Still waiting for the third one to be released...
Hello,I joined Goodreads in the past month and figured it was time to introduce myself. I was born in '79 and I work for a tech company in Seattle. I enjoy reading all genres, but sci-fi and fantasy are definitely the preferred choices.
My favorite books are (in no particular order and including all genres):
Dune, Shogun, The Child Garden, The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time), The Amber Spyglass, East of Eden, Speaker for the Dead, and The City and The Stars.
Hi everyone, my name is Paul and I'm a fantasyaholic. Well anything with swords and a good story really. I also love historical fiction and mythology. I particularly like fantasy with a kick, the sort of stuff that grabs you by the balls and wont let go. :)
Linda wrote: "There is a new geezer in town. I am Linda and I was born in, are you ready for this, 1948! I love Sci-Fi Fiction Fantasy.I especially like the Urban Fantasy, the ones that are not completely porno..."
Hey, Linda... I've got you by 3 years (1945); but we geezers know what REAL SciFi is about... Asimov, Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, etc.
Anyway, age is just a number. I'll be 68 this year; but I just published my first SF novel (one I started writing a lot of years ago). So now I'm an author, but I still read a lot of those "awful books" you mention. My current favorite writers include David Weber, John Ringo, and Elizabeth Moon.
Hello, Hugh, I'm a long time reader of sci-fi/fantasy from way back... I'm catching up ot John, but not quite there. Hold enough to say "back in my day we..." and young enouigh to go... "I'm the new generation!" Love reading, thank Kindle for getting me back to the front on books. Love Sci-fi Fantasy and always have, and, I still have some "Old School" tastes that are probably no longer "chic" to admit... but then, I'm not particularly "chic."
Looking forward to joining the discussions.
Hello! I've been reading science fiction and fantasy since I was a kid. My favorite subgenres are historical fantasy, gay speculative fiction, and children's/YA speculative fiction. My favorite not-so-well-known SF/F writers (because you guys already know about the well-known ones, right?) are Susan R. Matthews, Sylvia Engdahl, Megan Whalen Turner, and Manna Francis.
Hey there, I'm a 30 yr old trapped in a 59yr old body. I'm a retired firefighter and read sci fi ( huge Honor Harrington series fan), espionage, adventure (Rollins...ect) military thrillers and a few other subjects. I read for escapism.
Hi everyone, I'm Adam. I read whenever I can and I'll read anything, although my two favoured genres are fantasy and military science fiction. I'm a mature reader and quite exigent with what I read. Hence although I'll give most books a try, I don't persevere with all of them. I'm also a writer. I find it extremely difficult to decide on which my favourite works are; I have respect for so many; for so many different reasons.I look forward to participating in this group
Adam
hi all just thought id say hi. i love the norm ra salavator, hobb, and so on as well as a few indi's manning power and so forth
Hi everybody!I'm an avid reader from Croatia. Today i made a profile on goodreads, and I'm very happy to be part of this book club. I'm hoping to learn more about books I've read, and the one I'm only planning to read. Also, I'm looking forward to everything goodreads can offer; exchange opinions, get recommendations and discuss. I really enjoy reading fantasy and SF, and I hope I'll be an active participant of book discussions, if not in writing certainly in reading.
Hi, my name is Eddie and I have been reading Fantasy books since my brother put TWOT in my hand when I was about 12. I stopped reading as much the last 2 years (probably only read about 10-20 books total) and now I'm trying to make up for lost time. This yeah I've read the following:2 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books
Cold Days by Jim Butcher (AMAZING)
The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick,
The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie(AMAZING!)
The Fourth Realm trilogy by John Twelve Hawks
The Warded Man by Peter V Brett
I'm currently about a quarter of the way through Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover. It has been amazing so far. I'm loving the mix of Fantasy and Sci-fi and Caine is a great character especially since his chapters are written in 1st person while the rest are 3rd. It really serves to put you right in the action.
Oh an I've read 3 or 4 pregnancy novels so far this year because I'm gonna be a first time daddy come July!! Can't wait to bring another Fantasy reading nerd into this world
Hi! I'm a huge sci-fi/fantasy geek from Boston. My first true loves are Star Wars and Star Trek (both!) I spent my teenagerhood reading often-bad Stars Trek and Wars book. I watch and love a lot of sci-fi TV (Battlestar, Firefly, X-Files, etc) but haven't read a ton of sci-fi novels (beyond Wars and Trek, again). I'm trying to branch out, so I'd appreciate any recommendations!As for fantasy, all the usual suspects - LotR, Narnia, HP, etc. I have to admit though, while I like the Game of Thrones TV show, I couldn't get into the books. I know that may be heresy, but it's the truth! But I'm so glad a fantasy book/show has become so popular.
Looking forward to chatting with you all and sharing recommendations!
Holly wrote: "Welcome, and I too am not a fan of the Game of Thrones books....you are not alone! "Thanks, Holly! It's actually reassuring to hear there are other folks who didn't love the books! I did feel really alone! :)
Hi. I'm Michelle. I'm 25, born Oct 7, 1987 During the Who Shot JR? episode of Dallas. It was actually on in the room as my mother was giving birth to me XD. Virtually, all I read is fantasy, and classics, a little sci-fi, and Anne Rice novels... I've loved fantasy and classics since I read LOTR when I was 14, as it's a both. I was homeschooled my whole life. Now I'm a college student with an AA degree in psychology with Honors. I made the Dean's list...ALOT. Total nerd. I am pursuing a PhD. I want to be a criminal profiler with the FBI (I've wanted to do this also since I was around 14). I play video games on ocassion, my favorites being Skyrim, Need for Speed series, The Sims series, and Fable 2 & 3. I'm a cat lover, and I'm sure when I'm older I'll be the crazy cat lady at the end of the street lol XD.
Good Morning!! I am 37, wife, mother and bartender/waitress. I am mostly a fantasy fan. I am from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and live in a little town called Dafter. I love to read. I can't possibly name all the books I have read this last year because there is no way I wold remember them. Recently, I read all of The Demon Cycle books The Warded Man The Desert Spear The Daylight War. I just finished The Mists of Avalon. I am now reading Griffin's Daughter. Not sure what I will move onto after this but I have huge to-read list. Time to start checking them off.
Hello Everyone!!! I am from a very small (not even on the maps) town in Ky. I will soon be 32, born on March 31st. I love to read, my favorites are Tolkien (of course), Ray Bradbury, and Robert Heinlein, among many others. I haven't read many books recently, though I hope to change that. I hope that by joining this group I can find new favorite books and authors. I have a habit of rereading my favorites rather than finding something new (although my memory is so bad at times that it almost feels as though I am reading something new). And though I haven't read the entire series yet,so far I have enjoyed The Game of Thrones. Happy Reading!!!
Good evening to all. Let's see, born in 59, so that probably makes one of the older members. No, I didn't personally see the ark, and yes, tires were made of rubber. Shocking, isn't it? Now that that's out of the way, I am an avid reader of most genres. WWII has been my favorite for over forty years, but with the explosion of Indie books, I have taken off the blinders and found some very interesting works in the past few years. Isaac Hooke:The Forever Gate, B.A.Spicer: Bunny on a Bike, Drew D'Amato: Bloodlines, Steven Montano Bloodskies, Daniel Carter: The Unwanted,G-6 Chronicles and a host of others. I believe I'm up to 144 review so far.Along with loving to read I've put out a book or two in the past years. Back surgery in 2010 put a halt in my chosen profession of building roads, so now I've relegated myself to turning roads into a new thoroughfare. Look forward to many interesting discussions.
Hi guys,And greetings from Finland :) Hum, what to tell... well, I'm 28 years old, love speculative fiction over all other genres. Whenever I have time I travel, but lately that hasn't been very much. I did take a two month escape to China last year though.
Glad to meet you all, and up for any book recommendations you might have :)
Greetings! I'm 22 years old, hailing from the UK. I mainly (almost exclusively) read science fiction or fantasy, which started with A Wizard of Earthsea and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone when I was quite young, and haven't looked back since!
My favourite authors to date are Jack Vance, Gene Wolfe and Ursula K Le Guin, who have so many good books to their names.
Some favourite books include Dune by Frank Herbert, Tales of the Dying Sun by Jack Vance and the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe to name a few. I highly recommend that you give these a read if you have not already!
I'm always looking (and running out of) new books to read, so please don't hesitate to throw some recommendations my way, you'll probably receive a few in return!
Hi, 30 years old this year which is a shock to me. Unfortunately my ability to read is somewhat compromised by full time work and my son (another on the way this year), thankfully audiobooks allow me to have others do my reading for me. It's like having a gentleman's gentleman follow you around with your favourite book when you're busy.I started reading science fiction at about seven years old with the Lucky Starr and the Rings of Saturn series and Bill, the Galactic Hero. Much better than the Hardy Boys stuff they were pushing at school, soon I was devouring Asimov, Harry Harrison, Philip Jose Farmer, Michael Moorcock, Tolkien, Arthur C. Clarke and all the rest. Recently taken to reading Ian M. Banks and China Mieville, both of which have been revelations as far as my bookshelves are concerned and I've whipped through their respective ouvres.
I'm new to Goodreads, but looking forward to picking up recommendations and discussing classics.
So, um. . . hello!
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Rosewater (other topics)The Song of Achilles (other topics)
The Eye of the World (other topics)
Gardens of the Moon (other topics)
The Fated Sky (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Varun Sayal (other topics)Stanley Schmidt (other topics)
Margaret Atwood (other topics)
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (other topics)
Roald Dahl (other topics)
More...
Im a regular in the Sword and Laser group and it would be cool to read along with another group sometimes.
Im from England, Bedfordshire, I have been a reader of Fantasy for the past 10 years but an avid fan for about 8 reading it solely, apart from the occasional laser pick. Goodreads has exposed me to loads more writers and last year was a great reading year specifically being introduced to Robin Hobb so im looking forward to another good year.