Alternate Realities: A Scifi Book Club discussion

Please introduce yourselves to your fellow readers. Let us know what your favorite books, TV shows, and movies are.

I hate to be the first one to comment >_< but I just joined this group because I actually want to read the monthly book along with everyone. However, the books that appear to be the front runners for the next couple months are not available at my local library. So it looks like I won't be able to participate until we read something else. (I will however watch the movie for Solaris so maybe I can have something to contribute). Anyways, I will just say that I hope to discover some really good books from joining, I have lately had the desire to only read Science Fiction and High Fantasy. My fav sci-fi books are Oryx and Crake, the Time Machine, Brave New World, and the Amory Wars graphic novels. Favourite movies are extensive but I love V for Vendetta, Star Wars, anything with time travel. And I just have a ton of tv shows that I love so I won't get into that.
So maybe some people can recommend me something to read until we get a monthly that I can get at the library, I'm currently reading a fantasy called Mistborn: The Final Empire and then gonna go on to a Sci-Fi The Left Hand of Darkness which is supposed to be a classic.

Ally, give Hyperion a shot.

One of my favorite authors from the so-called "golden age" of science fiction is Clifford D. Simak, especially his novel , "Way Station".

Oh thanks, that one sounds good and I don't think I have heard of it before. And it's at my library :)

Well I'm late introducing myself. Like others here I read a lot that isn't sci-fi. I guess at one time or another I'll read just about anything but I always come back to sci-fi and fantasy. Ally, I liked Mistborn and haven't read The Left Hand of Darkness though I've also heard it is good. As noted on a different thread my favorite sci-fi novels include Diamond Age, Stranger in a Strange Land, and Forge of God and others that don't jump to mind right now. I also don't like the "continuing sages" that don't have an end at the end of each book, not that I don't like series, I just don't like being forced to read the next volume because this book didn't finish the story.

Haa like Song of Ice and Fire? damn GRRM better not die on me! I know why you feel that way. Mistborn was good for that, you got a complete story and don't necessarily need to read the sequels, but I definitely want to :) I honestly like sagas if they are good enough that I'm excited for the sequels, but it is also nice to read a book and get one compact and beautifully written story that doesn't need continuation.

Budd wrote: "Ally, give Hyperion a shot."

I lied... they only have the last book in the hyperion series at my library. The sci-fi and fantasy section there is a sad sad story indeed... if anyone is interested in tragedies...

Following up on series that had complete stories, for a while, Clan of the Cave Bear is a favorite, and right with it were the next two or three books that were complete even though you wanted more. And then came Shelters of Stone (I think as I'm going from memory) and that book didn't end. Instead it was left hanging demanding you buy the next book. I haven't. Not sure if it was the writer or if publishers pushed her into it.

Hello all. My name is Jim and I hope to make some new friends here! It's always good to meet new people and to find some good books.

Hello,

I've been a fan of sci-fi and fantasy since the beginning of time. I've lately leaned mostly on urban fantasy like The Dresden Files, but I'm always on the lookout for a good work of science fiction.

Some of the recent sci-fi that I've been into are the tv show Continuum, classic cyberpunk like Neuromancer and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, and modern works of grimdark pre-cyberpunk fiction like cnn.com.

Hello,

My name is Stephanie! My favorite sci-fi/ fantasy books are Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick and The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary Pearson

Love, love, love PKD. I recently recommended Cypulchre to a cyberpunk friend. Really, really good. Also, Ready Player One is a lot of fun. I'm re-reading When Gravity Fails. I'm looking for something a little darker...

Anthony wrote: "Hello,

I've been a fan of sci-fi and fantasy since the beginning of time. I've lately leaned mostly on urban fantasy like The Dresden Files, but I'm always on the lookout for a good work of scienc..."

Hi,

My name is Ben. I read a lot of scifi in high school and then kind of moved away from it in my early 20s. I've got back into it the last couple of years, and have found a lot of stuff that I really enjoyed.

Some of my favourites are Neil Stephenson's Snow Crash, Jeff VanderMeeer's Finch, Stephen Baxter's Flood and Ark, and Robert Charles Wilson's Spin. Also, although I don't know if they qualify as SciFi, Christopher Moore's A Dirty Job and Marie Philips Gods Behaving Badly were also excellent.

TV shows? The only thing I'm watching right now is Mad Men but I really enjoyed Battlestar Galactica when it was on, although I sort of lost my enthusiasm during the final season and never did quite finish watching the series. Recent movies would be Moon and I watched the George Clooney verion as well as the Russian version of Solaris and found that both had things to recommend them. And Capricorn One has always been a favourite of mine.

I second Hyperion. It's genius.

Anything by Peter f Hamilton, dan Simmons or Alastair Reynolds. If you like proper sci if you can't go far wrong with them. Forgot Ian M Banks. You don't mess with the culture:)

Hi all,
My name is Michael and I've recently published my debut scifi book, Battleframe. It was a lot of fun writing the story so that I could see how the characters would react in the various predicaments they found themselves in.
Some of my favourite authors include; Brandon Sanderson, Ian Irvine, MK Wren, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Raymond Feist, Frank Herbert plus a lot more.
TV shows include Babylon 5, The 100 and Battlestar Galactica. I just wished they'd produce something that was a little more political with a taint of action.

Hi everyone I'm Costa, and i love adventurous stories of all kinds but i love space and aliens the most. I don't have all the time to read a lot so it mostly consists of comics and some shorter stories but i do try to read as much as I can. Look forward to having fun and giving what I can into what discussions i can.

Author of Alien: A Girl From Anthe Planet Looking For Love

A Big Science Fiction fan. I love Star Wars, Star Trek, and Battlestar Galactica. I love Asian movies: Chinese especially. Kung-fu movies are my favorite genre. As there are not much good Sci-Fi in Asian movies. Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, and Jet Li, are some of my Heroes. I used to practice Martial Arts myself. I love Chinese cooking, all things media like writing, video production. I have a B.F.A. in Film making and Video Production. A bachelor's in Computer Science. Nine classes short of getting 3rd bachelor's in Web Design. Plan on getting Master's in Movie and TV Production.

Hi I'm Claire and I love space, so naturally I love Science Fiction.

Hi all,

Science fiction lover reporting for duty. Love a whole wide range of science fiction from the cheesily awful to the deeply thoughtful. On TV, I'm a fan of the likes of Firefly, Space: Above And Beyond, Stargate and my favourite show would be Babylon 5. Really enjoyed The Expanse recently, and generally give most sci fi shows at least a look.

On the big screen, again I take in a wide range and am currently trying to convince my six-year-old stepson that now is the time to get into Star Wars. He responds by singing Frozen to me, telling me to "Let It Go...". Favourite sci fi movie ever would be a very tough pick, but perhaps the Tarkovsky Solaris.

Looking forward to the group discussions!

Good morning :-)
I have been lurking around this group for a while and maybe it is time to introduce myself.
I have been a fan of SciFi since first Robot-story by Asimov when I was around 11 and I have not stopped reading this stuff since.
I find the changes within this genre fascinating and can't wait to see where this is going.
I have recently finished the Vorkosigan saga, the Dread Empire Trilogy and Poor man's fight Trilogy... and enjoyed all but the last book of each series.
I would love to find a "new" Peter F. Hamilton (always running out of stuff to read) and a new Babylon 5 - although the Expanse on TV IS mighty good!
Favorite SciFi movie? Dune... with the Fifth element a very distant second.

Hey all, new to this group. I read too much in all honesty and enjoy sci fi, fantasy and horror. I have to leave a review for each book i read and always have more books on my to read list than read. Im looking forward to reading a book with a group and doing a discussion. It will be nice to get another perspective on what im reading from those who also enjoy sci fi. I also read alot of indie authors and occasionally stumble across some real gems. The only thing that bugs me sometimes, is when i read a book, then i learn is part of a 6 book series and then my ocd kicks in and i have to finish it. Sometimes its good and other times i get burnt out. Anyway thats me, i hope to have some good reading from this group and look forward to the next book posting and subsequent discussion. Fav auhtors are Joe Hart, Brian Keene and Michael Hicks and many others but those are most recent. I enjoy movies but honeslty my kids have spongbob on 24/7 so i read :) Currently deep in the Old mans War series and Frontlines series. both are good. Last few that i read that were great was the In Her Name Series(9 books) and Red Rising Trilogy (this gets good after first book imho).

I'm Rachel Adiyah. My favorite books are dystopian or interdimensional, as well as TRUE time travel novels (not interested in time travel romances), too numerous to mention just one, although I can definitely say that my favorite author is The Man - Philip K Dick. My favorite movies are Z.P.G.: Zero Population Growth, Soylent Green, Rollerball, and the anime classic Lupin III: Castle Cagliostro. My favorite TV show is currently Westworld. Favorite anime series is Zegapain, which churns the dystopian and cyberpunk genres into a surreal landscape.