Former Introduction Thread Showing 4,651-4,700 of 6,846

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi anyone I missed. Goodreads stopped updating me...again.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Yo.

:)

[Benjamin]

Hey all, my name is Ben Mumford-Zisk, new to the discussion group, new to Goodreads...new to a lot of things, really. In the interest of honesty let me say my primary motivation for joining Goodreads is to promote my books, but it's nice to join a reading community as well. I always feel odd saying this, but I forget to read for pleasure, given that I write professionally. I guess I get overloaded on text.

In any case, happy to be here and happy to be finding new books. Thanks folks!

[[deleted user]]

Benjamin wrote: "Hey all, my name is Ben Mumford-Zisk, new to the discussion group, new to Goodreads...new to a lot of things, really. In the interest of honesty let me say my primary motivation for joining..."

Welcome, Benjamin. All of us are here to promote our books, and we understand, and will even forgive a bit of overenthusiasm. Just don't forget to partake in the other enjoyable activities available here, finding great fiction reads being high among them. Have a great stay!

[Benjamin]

Jack wrote: "Benjamin wrote: "Hey all, my name is Ben Mumford-Zisk, new to the discussion group, new to Goodreads...new to a lot of things, really. In the interest of honesty let me say my primary motivation fo..."

Thanks Jack!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome.

[Raymond]

I've been a member for all of a day or two and just noticed this thread. My name is Raymond Bolton. I grew up with science fiction—Van Vogt, Heinlein, Bradbury, Le Guin, et al—then spent the next few decades immersed in non-fiction. Things as diverse as Russian history and computer how-to. I've only recently been finding my way back into the fold with China Mieville, Paolo Bacigalupi, Hugh Howey and Andie Weir and I'm looking for suggestions and reasons why.

Nice to meet you all.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi, welcome. Feel free to browse my shelves and I'm sure other members feel the same way.

[[deleted user]]

Raymond wrote: "I've been a member for all of a day or two and just noticed this thread. My name is Raymond Bolton. I grew up with science fiction—Van Vogt, Heinlein, Bradbury, Le Guin, et al—then spent the next..."

Hi, Raymond, and welcome. I suggest you try some steampunk. Why? Because whether your dish is sci-fi or supernatural, the hissing, clanking backdrop just adds an extra dimension. I further recommend you try some indies for the fresh ideas they bring to any genre. A couple of good titles: Lady Jessica, Monster Hunter: Episodes 1-3 and The Volcano Lady. Neither of these are my work, but I happen to know they are both excellent adventures with a lot to offer. Enjoy!

[Raymond]

Jack wrote: "A couple of good titles: Lady Jessica, Monster Hunter: Episodes 1-3 and The Volcano Lady. Neither of these are my work, but I happen to know they are both excellent adventures with a lot to offer. Enjoy!"

If these are available as audio books, I certainly will. Currently I'm running businesses in two cities 1,100 miles apart—Santa Fe, NM and Portland, OR. As you can imagine, my time to read is limited. I've "read" all of the recent ones on my way to and from the airport or office.

Thanks for the response. Nice to connect.

[M.T.]

Hello everyone. My name is M T McGuire.

I live in England - not a town in the US, the original one on the edge of Europe. For someone who is rather time poor I read quite a bit but for the rest of you, that's not very much. I grew up on a windy Down: in the place that was the first choice of location for the Harry Potter films. I guess that means it's only natural that I love science fiction and fantasy. There's obviously something in the water up there, apart from chalk. I'm 46, I am happily married to a McOther and I have a 6 year old son (what do you want for your 40th birthday MT - oh I'll have an emergency c section please). There is also a McCat. We wanted to call him Spock but someone else had already called him Harrison and he already answered to it so we had to stick with that. I drive a McLotus and I wish it flew.

I should fess up to being an author, so I read a lot of self published or small press stuff and if it's good I usually end up hanging out with the authors afterwards. Some has been terrible but some... I just don't get why it isn't main stream.

So. This year I've read the usual mixture of fantasy and sci-fi:

Fantasy:
The Banned Underground series by Will Macmillan Jones (think Spike Milligan meets Spinal Tap) I've been reading his children's, Snort and Wobbles with my 6 year old lad.
The Cartographer's Apprentice by Jim Webster and Dead Man Riding East - both excellent.
Song of the Ice Lord which was just awesome by J A Clement really, you should read all her stuff. I can't recommend it highly enough it's lyrical and beautiful and totally gripping and I have absolutely no idea why it isn't published by Random House or someone.
Alloria, by David M Staniforth (that's another fabulous one, like CS Lewis and the writing is cracking). I also read his Fuel to the Fire trilogy which I loved.
Wanted by Tim Arnot - dystopian ad set in Oxford.
The first book in the Silent Blade Chronicles by David Graham - loved that too. It takes a while to get going but I found it fun.
Snuff - Pratchett fab, as all Pratchett's are, to me.

Sci-fi
The Power of Six by Nicholas Rossis (short stories and there are a couple of crackers in there)
The Long Earth, Pratchett and Baxter (enjoyed that but I'd almost like to put my own story in because it seemed to be about world building more than anything else).
The Warden series by D L Morrese - really clever, starts out as fantasy but turns out it's sci-fi.
The Man from U.N.D.E.A.D. by Darren Humphries which was great fun and funny, too. In fact this one probably epitomises the kind of stuff I love to read.

Lorks so yeh, that's it...

I have so many more I want to read, too.

Cheers

MTM

[Alan]

M T wrote: "Hello everyone. My name is M T McGuire.
I live in England - not a town in the US, the original one on the edge of Europe..."

Hi MT

And welcome to the madhouse!
"I should fess up to being an author, so I read a lot of self published or small press stuff"
Yes, so have many of us - and many of us are in also in the 'author' category. Sadly, much of the self-published stuff is self-published because it would have failed a basic English test, that's why it doesn't have a conventional publisher - but you are correct, some of it is excellent, it deserves to be mainstream, it just hasn't made it . . . maybe just a lack of publicity, or maybe just a lack of plain luck!

"This year I've read the usual mixture of fantasy and sci-fi:"
I checked your list - most of it I agree with (particularly Pratchett and Webster) some I didn't recognise (but I was away from F/SF for a couple of decades, I am still in catch-up mode) and one you praised I really didn't get on with (but I am not saying which one at present!)

Welcome, feel free to join in - and please post some reviews so I know why you like (or don't like) various books. I find reading Goodreads reviews is a good way of finding new authors.

Cheers

[Renate]

So, hi everyone! My name is Renate, and I am from that little country in Europe known as the Netherlands. Seems we don't have much fantasy and sci-fi books written here so I pretty much only read english books these days. I am quite new to groups on Goodreads, have joined one before but never quite got the hang of it. So hope I do better now.
Always had a love for sci-fi, however up until a few years back I loved fantasy more. Got sick of it when it just seemed the same over and over again. Tolkien clones and whatever. Besides, am fascinated by what the future has in store for us. Aliens, tech, apocalypse maybe? These days I seem obsessed with (post)apocalyptic fiction, but find it's quite hard to find the good stuff. I prefer things not young-adult (they can be quite good but for me often seem over-simplified) or zombie-apocalypse. The last one works better on telly anyways.

Have had a difficult couple of years, am just starting up my Medical Biologies studies at the local university again, so am reading less than I'd like.. so far this year I have read;

Scott Sigler - Infected
Clarissa Clare - City of Bones
Robert J. Sawyer - Factoring Humanity
Terry Pratchett - The Long Mars
Julianna Baggot - Pure
Robert Holdstock - Mythago Wood
Jules Verne - In the Year 2889
Hugh Howey - Wool Omnibus
Michael Chrichton - The Andromeda Strain
Patrick Lee - The Breach
Warren Fahy - Fragment


Currently I am reading;
Stephen R. Lawhead - The Skin Map
Carrie Ryan - The Dead-Tossed waves
Hugh Howey - Shift
And yesterday I started reading Robin Parrish - Offworld

Am always reading multiple books at a time, when I get sick of one I start another.. so easy when you have an e-reader. Though it can never replace real books.. however I have no room currently for more books, not until I get a place of my own after finishing my Masters.

So, will stop blabbing your ears off and all. Hope I get to know my way around this group, am always looking for new books.

:)

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi all new members. Some how GR can't seem to update me about new posts here...oh well. Welcome.

[Alan]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Hi all new members. Some how GR can't seem to update me about new posts here...oh well. Welcome."
Hi Mike
Its worse than that . . .
I get emails telling me there are new posts in this conference - but when I try to follow them I get the first page of this conference (and this is page 98!) and a flag saying "Sorry - could not find that comment". Once, I wouldn't mind - but this is becoming a pattern. At least I know the new messages are there - but this isn't right!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Yeah, I've gotten that. I just go to the last page of the thread and see if there have been new posts. I usually find a new post...or several.

[N.P.]

Hi all,

My name is Neil. I've been a reader of Goodreads for a while now but have only really started to use it in anger in the last couple of weeks.

I try to get through two or three books a month, work allowing (emphasis on the try, to be fair I usually manage a book and a half if I'm lucky).

So far this year, I've got through Pattern Recognition, Spook Country and Zero History by William Gibson (I must confess to being a big fan of his) as well as several other books outside of the F/SF genre.

I'm currently reading American Gods and I'm enjoying it very much. I hope to be an active part of this group and share in the love and interest that everybody has for these genres, if I can escape from my office for long enough.

[[deleted user]]

N.P. wrote: "I hope to be an active part of this group and share in the love and interest that everybody has for these genres, if I can escape from my office for long enough ..."

Escape from your office, Neil, and stay escaped. No one ever laid on their death bed and wailed, "If only I'd spent more time at the office!" And avoid cubicles at all costs. Every one is a trap! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjnmB...

[Mike (the Paladin)]

To someone my my age that song is depressing for the truth that's in it. It may not be something to pattern your life after, that said I spent most of my life doing the week in/week out thing. I wouldn't trade my kids...but there's a lot I never did I wanted to do.

Find the balance and live.

Have you seen the movie Second Hand Lions?

[N.P.]

Yeah, doing my utmost to fashion an escape path (says the guy into his sixth night shift).

I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that I'm from London, so as I write this it is now 23:54 and I'm on shift until 07:00. I'm going to have to find a better balance no doubt about it.

I just IMDB'd SecondHand Lions. It's not a film I've seen before but I do like Michael Caine, so I'll have to see if I can find it somewhere.

[[deleted user]]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "To someone my my age that song is depressing for the truth that's in it. It may not be something to pattern your life after, that said I spent most of my life doing the week in/week out thing..."

I know what you mean. I'm 65 myself, but there's also the power of hope there. Whatever is left of your life, weeks or decades, is yours. Yes, we have responsibilities, and yes, we have to earn a living, but don't look for more ways to invest more of yourself in work; look for ways to invest less. Whatever you can reclaim is yours; live it like it belongs to you!

Oh, and Michael Caine? All I have to know.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I used to hunt, camp...just spend time in the woods. I've had some great times but in the late '80s I sort of over balanced and began working 60 or 80 hour weeks some times.

Now I walk with a cane etc. I always thought I'd work to 65 or 67 and then still have time to get back into the woods. Hasn't happened...still hope I suppose but it will require things to "fall out right".

:)

[N.P.]

I think the lesson here is find a way out while I still can. I have plans on that front so I guess I'll just have to keep plugging away.

Mike, I was just looking at your profile. 2262 reviews? Guess I have my work cut out for me. I've found book reviewing surprisingly satisfying since I joined this site as it isn't something I've ever done before.

I see you're a steampunk fan, Jack. I'm a big fan of the genre as well and I find myself going back to The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling every few years, it is such a great read. I've also recently come across a writer called Mark Hodder who's written a series of books about a pair of characters called Burton and Swinburne. Have you come across these books before?

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Some of those reviews are like, "This was really a good book" or "This book stinks"....

Not exactly, but you get the idea. LOL. Most are a bit more detailed. I review most books I read, generally speaking.

:)

[[deleted user]]

N.P. wrote: "I think the lesson here is find a way out while I still can. I have plans on that front so I guess I'll just have to keep plugging away..."

I am a fan and a creator, but I was only led to it by a friend in 2011. I spend all the free time I can break loose writing, and in addition, I support my fellow indies almost exclusively. The big names I have read include Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, which I didn't care for (too dark), and Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series, which was fabulous. I've enjoyed Lady Jessica, Monster Hunter by Keith Dumble, Tesla by Mark Lingane, and am currently in the midst of The Volcano Lady by T.E. MacArthur. I'll get to as many as I can; I'm having the time of my life with this stuff!

[M.T.]

My sympathies to anyone walking with a cane. I jumped over a wall aged 25 and I've walked with a stick, on and off, ever since. Last year I managed to ride my bike into the path of an oncoming car and buggered up the other leg! Phnark. I get my kicks riding a bicycle and/or driving a car too fast and if I go to the gym a lot I can just about keep off the painkillers. I need new knees but I'm only 46 so I have to wait 14 years because they can only replace them twice and they only last 10 years.

I like my reality pimped a bit, which is why I enjoy sci-fi and fantasy so much I suppose.

I no longer work - except at writing books. McOther works and I look after McMini. It's fun but makes my writing hours a bit up and down and leaves me skint on a semi permanent basis!

On the hope/age front. Once you hit your 20s I'm not sure the person you are inside changes that much, you just get wiser. I still feel young and you know how it is... Hope springs eternal. :-)

Cheers

MTM

[[deleted user]]

M T wrote: "My sympathies to anyone walking with a cane. I jumped over a wall aged 25 and I've walked with a stick, on and off, ever since. Last year I managed to ride my bike into the path of an oncoming car ...Once you hit your 20s I'm not sure the person you are inside changes that much, you just get wiser."

And my sympathies to anyone who has been hit by a car!

On the other, I wonder... In my twenties, I was hostile, aggressive, a pushy know-it-all who was never too busy to call someone down over what they believed or thought they knew. Now if that person walked in the door, I don't think I'd know him. So have I changed, or has wisdom changed the personality? Or are we using imperfect words to describe the indescribable?

[M.T.]

I was very shy in my 20s. I was bullied at school and even though I knew I was reasonably attractive, had a good figure and was a nice person, you know how it is. If you're told you're rubbish every day you start to believe it. Over my 20s it gradually wore off with the help of a sympathetic boyfriend and a decent job. I married the boyfriend and I think it was when I hit 30, and I didn't have to be young, trendy and beautiful any more that life took off and I began to have a lot of fun. I haven't looked back since.

[Frank]

Greetings all yo folks of flexible minds and disbelief that is sometimes suspend so easily. Yes, I'm writing. No I won't bother you with that.

My interest is science fiction and has bee since I first could read. I prefer vowels and recently series because they are comfortable. There's a framework, familiar characters you can care about and hopefully a decent story

My name is frank, living in metro Phoenix if anyone knows of a group or groups that get together here in the flesh. New to this area, divorced and seeking folks to socialize with that I can actually tolerate. People who know that Quantum Physics is not new, that Schrödinger's cat was put forth in 1935 as an intentionally ridiculous thought experiment which almost nobody gets right.

Curious about erotic SF which is almost an oxymoron. Like so many authors can't list them al.l. Hi!!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Frank, welcome.

I was an idiot when I was in my 20s to Jack. Got in trouble...almost like I was setting out to get into trouble.

The first time my right knee got messed up was when I was in the Army. It was a "friendly fight" with a Marine friend of mine who was like a head taller then me. I twisted it out at about a ninety degree angle (in the direction a knee isn't supposed to bend). Couldn't report it as that could nave gotten me in trouble (unauthorized combat....). So I hobbled around jumping out of trucks and landing on one leg and favoring it for months.

I thought it healed okay, but am paying for it now.

I need new knees to. It's just the "out of pocket" that has me on the ropes right now. Both knees need to be replaced.

[Zareepa]

hey guys! My name is Zareepa and I'm 15. I live in Saudi Arabia and am currently finishing my GCSEs so naturally, I'm a bit busy at the moment. I've read the following books this year:

The Dark Tower by Stephen King
Farenheit 451 by ray Bradbury
1984 by George Orwell
To Kill A Mocking Bird by Harper Lee
Lord Of The Rings -entire series- by J.R.R Tolkein
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Riuz Zafon
A Brief History Of Time by Stephen Hawking
Manuscript Found In Accra by Paulo Coelho
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

[Liam || Books 'n Beards]

Hi! I'm Liam. I'm a 23 year old library worker who still is a bit confused how he landed himself in this job. Big sports fan (Aussie Rules footy) and love me some anime and such as well.

I'll try to participate in the monthly reads as much as possible but I usually have enough trouble getting through my own books! :P

Read 28 books this year (been a bit slack), the highlights being;

S. by Doug Dorst
The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon
Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind: The Complete Series by Hayao Miyazaki
The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
Perdido Street Station by China Miéville

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Welcome Zareepa, Liam.

You listed one of my favorite books there Liam. The Deed of Paksenarrion is an all time favorite.

[Liam || Books 'n Beards]

It took me over a month to get through but I agree it was worth it!

[Mike (the Paladin)]

I've read it several times. The first time I read it was when I was off work for the first of what turned out to be several surgeries. I love the book.

[Karin]

Hello!

I'm Karin. I am 31 years old and I'm a embroidery artist. I live in the Netherlands with my husband. I love reading (of course) and my favourite genre is fantasy, but I also like the occasional sci fi book or classic novel.
My favourite books are the Lord of the Rings series and Harry Potter series which I tend to re-read every 2 or 3 years. At the moment I am reading The Memory, Sorrow and Thorn series by Tad Williams (book 3).

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Karin, welcome. I read that Williams series back as they came out. I think I like more than anything else he's done.

[Micah]

I'm Micah. I'm 37 years old and am a financial analyst. I live in Louisiana with my hubby of 16 years and our two teenage boys.
My favorite genre is Fantasy as well. Love being transported to different times and realms.
I've just really gotten into reading for the first time in my life over the past year. Starting with the Hunger games series, then the Divergent (enjoyed both), but then onto the Graceling series and the Lunar Chronicles *** which is my favorite thus far. I’m in the middle of the Throne of Glass series… seeing a trend yet?

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi Micah, welcome.

[N.P.]

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Hi Frank, welcome.

I was an idiot when I was in my 20s to Jack. Got in trouble...almost like I was setting out to get into trouble.

The first time my right knee got messed up was when I was in th..."

Mike (the Paladin) wrote: "Hi Frank, welcome.

I was an idiot when I was in my 20s to Jack. Got in trouble...almost like I was setting out to get into trouble.

The first time my right knee got messed up was when I was in th..."

Hi Mike, that sounds painful. I remember jumping off a ridge on Salisbury Plain in England when I was a soldier in the nineties. My left foot hit soft ground but my right hit hard standing, beneath some grass, causing compression injuries. I did exactly the same thing in ignoring it and I still have problems to this day, admittedly not as bad as yours, but bad enough, particularly first thing in the morning when I get out of bed.

Unfortunately hindsight isn't much comfort in these situations but still there are days when I wish I had a time machine.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

LOL. Yeah, well that was the "first" injury, LOL. I was still in the army. Later I went back to college for a technology degree and ended up doing commercial refrigeration...read climbing ladders with 30+ pounds of tools around my waist and carrying parts etc. When you're young (well i was in my 30s and then my 40s but...) you just expect your body to heal. I'd jump down 6 or 8 feet with my tools into roof wells, of coolers etc. By my late 50s I'd destroyed my knees.

Oh well, I guess. Lots of folks have it worse than me.

[Andrew]

Hello all. I'm new to the group, and to good reads. I've an SF/Fantasy afficianado since, oh, my early teens, I think. I live and work in the Middle East.

As well as SF/F, I enjoy reading non-fiction (particularly medieval history, archaeology, popular science and current affairs).

It's sometimes hard to keep up with new authors, and recently I've found myself re-reading some of the books that got me into this area of fiction in the first place - Alan Dean Foster, Robert Heinlein, David Gemmell, Ray Feist and of course the Professor - alongside other series that have tickled my fancy over the years (the release of a new Deverry book has, for many years, been my excuse to read the whole saga over again).

But new authors do appear - Charles Stross, Peter Hamilton and Neal Stephenson are high on my list (do I date myself by referring to them as new authors?)

I'm the kind of reader who'll read the back of a cereal packet if nothing else is available. The advent of smartphones and ebooks has been a godsend to me. Though I arrived in the Middle East with a suitcase of clothes and 30 packing crates of books, I'm repurchasing quite a few of them in electronic format - as well as portability, it's also very handy as a dedicated bedtime reader with a partner who likes the lights out to sleep.

I'm a keen gamer, both video and tabletop. I've been playing both since about the time I discovered SF and fantasy. On the tabletop front I'm a volunteer officer for the Pathfinder Society and one of the founders of the Gulf Roleplaying Community.

Anyway, that's me. Carry on.

[Mike (the Paladin)]

Hi, welcome.

[Sumant]

Hi everyone I am Sumant, and I love reading all kinds of fantasy.

[Greg]

Welcome Sumant, Andrew, Micah, Karin, Liam, Zareepa, Frank and anyone else from September.

[Aneela]

Hi all, my name is Aneela, I'm 18 years old and I was born and bred in England. I've always had a soft spot for fantasy- ever since I found my Dad's collection in a big box in our garden shed! Needless to say I was very excited to start reading when I realised that it included a copy of the Lord of the Rings (having enjoyed the films countless times). Like many others, I loved it which led me to read the other books in our collection- which included The Belgariad by David Eddings (still a favourite and which my younger sister is now thoroughly enjoying too). My Dad also bought a whole boxset of the Narnia books when I was younger, which greatly contributed to my love of fantasy. Other favourites include The Harry Potter series, and The Wheel of Time. Hoping to find more great books in this group!

[Ryan]

Welcome aneela, I really enjoyed the codex alera by Jim butcher.

[Ryan]

Welcome to the clutch Andrew, say, have you read any of the Empire of man series? It's excellent military Sci fi/military history. Or also called the Prince Roger series.

[N.P.]

Aneela wrote: "Hi all, my name is Aneela, I'm 18 years old and I was born and bred in England. I've always had a soft spot for fantasy- ever since I found my Dad's collection in a big box in our garden shed! Need..."
Hi Aneela, so you're from the home of Clive Barker, no less :)

I loved the Narnia series when i was a kid, that's definitely the best time to read those. Lord of the Rings I read when I was about 13 years old but it still stays with me now, probably because of the films, if I'm honest, but hey. As for the Wheel of Time, I really should get round to that at some point but at 14 books, that's a big ask.

Anyway, welcome to the group, I'm sure you'll find plenty of kindred sprits here.

[Lee]

Aneela wrote: "Hi all, my name is Aneela, I'm 18 years old and I was born and bred in England. I've always had a soft spot for fantasy- ever since I found my Dad's collection in a big box in our garden shed! Need..."

If you haven't already discovered the works of Peter S. Beagle, I would highly recommend them. I read his early works about the same time I discovered Tolkien and loved both.

Welcome to the group!