SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Hi all,

Born in 75 here. By day I teach and research American literature from the colonial period through the nineteenth century. Evenings and early mornings (when the kids are sleeping), my favorite thing is to read fantasy. I'm just now starting to read (and love) sci fi as well.

I'm from rural Northern California followed by Central Oregon and New Mexico. But home is now the great city of Philadelphia (sci fi / fantasy book club anyone?).

I really enjoy Patrick Rothfuss, Patricia A. McKillip, N. K. Jemisin, Lynn Flewelling, and Nalo Hopkinson. Mercedes Lackey helped me survive high school. Books with strong women and/or queer characters are a particular treat.

Greetings..I read both Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but lean towards Fantasy more. As a kid I never did really like to read novels much, that was not until I discovered in the 1980s two things. Choose Your Own Adventure/Gamebooks and Dragonlance. The later is what got me into reading novel length books and became the theater of the mind. I would put on some classical music in the back and read non-stop. At the moment I'm going through the Savage Sword of Conan comic books from the 1970s onward. I like everything from Dungeons & Dragons novels, Harry Potter, Conan the Barbarian, to Cyberpunk and H.G. Wells.

This past month I finally completed the re-write and edit on my first fantasy novel and have started writing a new fantasy based Choose Your Own Adventure series.

Random Knowledge: I also have a background in Hollywood as a director, screenwriter, and actor in a few movies and TV shows you may know.

Heya! Hailing from Ankara, Turkey (although I am about to relocate to Toronto). 35. Been reading, playing, writing, watching scifi and fantasynstuff since when I was a little boy.

Nowadays I am mostly writing, composing music and practicing aikido. After my relocation, I will attend a college to get my second BA degree.

I live with my wife and our four cats.

I am also horrible at writing introductions, haha.

Hi. I'm Sandy Hausler, a lawyer from New York.

I've been re-reading a lot these days, mostly books by Robert Silverberg and Roger Zelazny.

While I enjoy science fiction, I like to read in a lot of different genres. It's a big world out there, even in the world of books.

Hello all! Aidan here. I'm from Las Vegas. I'm a fan of old-school quest and epic fantasy, but got a taste for hard sci-fi after reading Hannu Rajaniemi's Quantum Thief series. I'm back to fantasy now and am currently reading Brian Lee Durfee's "The Forgetting Moon" while listening to Mat Kaufman's "Light's End" on audiobook.

I have a couple short stories floating out there and will have my first novel out in January 2018. That's all about me. What about you?

Hey there! I'm Sam from the PNW. I've been a sci-fi/fantasy geek since I was 7, and my mom and my aunt (twin sisters) introduced me to Dragonriders of Pern and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, respectively. (They were thrilled that I'd finally learned to read after utterly refusing to do so in kindergarten.)

I'm curious, what were your earliest introductions to the genres?

Hi there. My name is Richard and I'm an addict.
Haha!
I'm addicted to the wonderful science fiction writing of Philip K Dick.
A master of the art...
I live in the UK (pronounced 'Yuk!') and dream of a better life within the Eurozone.
I also paint pictures and write poetry... and since you asked, and I'm sure you really want to here it, here's a sample of my poetry:

"Beyond reach, yet one moment and alien Futures are grasped and submitted to Catalogue opportunities shot covering the next hit Dopamine receptors blocked Volcanoes and sticky-paper The cancer-camera had detected fear..."

I like abstraction and mysteries- I like philosophy and colour; I don't like nonsense or conservatism, bigotry or hate.

I guess I should expand my reading to include more sci-fi writers than just Dick but who should I read next? Any ideas, let me know...

Sam wrote: "I'm curious, what were your earliest introductions to the genres? ..."
Being UK-based, and very English, I started (age about 8?) with some Capt W. E. Johns (the guy who wrote Biggles, but also wrote juvenile SF - definitely too juvenile for modern tastes).
I moved on to Clarke, Asimov, then Heinlein - and a whole pile of others who managed to get their shorts selected for the big yellow-cover Gollancz collections of the 1960s.
Come University days (1968-71) I was ready for almost anything in the F/SF fields (long list, including Blish, Brunner, McCaffrey, Jim White, Bob Shaw, Pohl, Niven, Zelazny, etc)
At University I was introduced to Cons (meeting and getting drunk with people I regarded as little short of Gods - see some of the names already mentioned!) and shortly after graduation was on the Founding Committee for Novacon 1 (that probably won't mean much to US readers!)
Then the career took over and I hardly read anything for 30 years . . . and then I went back to it, but now reading more Fantasy than SF, and also writing (but with very limited success, my natural style reflects the style I grew up with, and the world has, sadly, moved on!)
Such is life! Looking forward to responses from others on this thread!
Edit: Include Zenna Henderson on the 'inspirations' list - I found her work in the Gollancz books, and was amazed and delighted to discover how much more of it there was!

Alan wrote: "Sam wrote: "I'm curious, what were your earliest introductions to the genres? ..."
Being UK-based, and very English, I started (age about 8?) with some Capt W. E. Johns (the guy who wrote Biggles, ..."

Thanks for sharing! I loved Zelazny, Asimov, Niven, and obviously McCaffery as well. How fun to have been involved from the ground up with Novacon.

Hi everyone! I'm Sakib, from Bangladesh. I'm 22 years old and a 3rd year student studying Electrical and Electronic Engineering at a public university.

Even though I'm usually a lot of pressure for my studies, I always try to manage my time and read at least a page everyday. Initially, I loved mystery and thriller books, but recently my taste has spread over other genres, specially fantasy and graphics novels and manga.

I hope I'll have a wonderful time here with you guys, and read many awesome sci-fi and fantasy books with you guys...

Happy reading to all!

Hello guys! I'm Gary, 27. I'm currently reading the red knight and name of the wind. I'm looking forward to talking with you all. I'm currently in Maryland. I love to travel and I can't wait to read "doors of stone"! Haha

Alan wrote: "Sam wrote: "I'm curious, what were your earliest introductions to the genres? ..."
Being UK-based, and very English, I started (age about 8?) with some Capt W. E. Johns (the guy who wrote Biggles, ..."

Sounds like we are very much of the same vintage (mid-60's now). I was raised on a farm in Canada, where there was lots of time to read in the winter. I started with comics (mostly DC: Superman, Batman and their related super-heroes) in my very early years. Graduated to all the usuals that you mentioned in my early and mid-teens (with a special fondness for the Heinlein juveniles).

I also went to the library every week while my parents shopped in town and started at one end of the SF shelves (mostly Gollanz) and worked my way to the other end. Then I was at a loss for a while until I started getting a bit of pocket money and bought a cheap paperback or two every week.

Slowly moved on to more "serious" stuff - all the New Wave (Ellison, Delaney) but preferred Pangborn and Stapledon, who is probably my favourite SF author. Struggled through the Tolkien trilogy over a whole summer and decided fantasy was not for me. On the other hand, I read Dune in about a week.

I moved to Australia in the mid-70's and like yourself, life sort of took over (first travel, then family, then lots more work). So I am now trying to catch up on about 30 years of SF that I have somehow missed.

So far I am not really impressed with what I have found: even the so-called hard SF writers of today (Reynolds, Robert Charles Wilson) lack the scientific rigour and outlook of the 50's and 60's (and yes, I know, there wasn't a lot of science in Childhood's End or Stranger in a Strange Land). Maybe it's just the rose-coloured glasses of old age looking back at youth, or the mists of time, or early Alzheimer's. I will keep looking. And like you, I have also started writing my own, just in case I don't find anything out there.

Any suggestions about current authors would be welcome. And oh yes, my local library does have an SF shelf and I have started at one end....

Henry wrote: "So far I am not really impressed with what I have found: even the so-called hard SF writers of today (Reynolds, Robert Charles Wilson) lack the scientific rigour and outlook of the 50's and 60's (and yes, I know, there wasn't a lot of science in Childhood's End or Stranger in a Strange Land). Maybe it's just the rose-coloured glasses of old age looking back at youth, or the mists of time, or early Alzheimer's. I will keep looking. And like you, I have also started writing my own, just in case I don't find anything out there.

Any suggestions about current authors would be welcome. And oh yes, my local library does have an SF shelf and I have started at one end.... "

Welcome! Our tastes don't seem to be very correlated so take this with a grain of salt, but you might try:

* Neal Stephenson (Seveneves, The Diamond Age)
* The Three-Body Problem and its sequels by Liu Cixin
* Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Hi Henry,

My husband's a big SF fan (I'm more fantasy), and he recommends these authors for old-school scientific rigor: Stephen Baxter, Charles Gannon, Jack McDevitt, and Wil McCarthy.

In fact, McCarthy is trying to get a patent for some of the tech he devised in his fiction, so I'd say it should be pretty scientifically rigorous.

Hope this helps!

Hello! I'm Megan. I hated reading until 7th grade when my dad dragged me to the library so he could get a new sci-fi book. I ended up finding a David Eddings book and never looked back. I'm 37 now and still love to read but it's hard finding the time. I prefer fantasy over sci-fi but love both. I'm hoping to broaden my horizons a little by participating in the monthly reads when I can.

Megan wrote: "I hated reading until 7th grade when my dad dragged me to the library so he could get a new sci-fi book. I ended up finding a David Eddings book and never looked back...."

I love stories like this. You give me hope for my hates-to-read fourth grade son!

HI, I'm Alan. I now live in Newport, TN. It's a small, rural town--a lot of farms, cows, pigs, horses and mountains. I hate it. But it's home to my girlfriend, and she wanted to move back here.

Kelle wrote: "Hi Henry,

My husband's a big SF fan (I'm more fantasy), and he recommends these authors for old-school scientific rigor: Stephen Baxter, Charles Gannon, Jack McDevitt, and Wil McCarthy.

In fact,..."

Hi,

Thanks for the information. I had not heard of either Charles Gannon or Wil McCarthy - I will certainly look for them.

Hi, I recently joined the group and thought I introduce myself.
My name is Alex. I am Austrian but live in Australia. I love the sun, ocean, kitesurfing and well... reading sci-fi.
Last year I thought I'll give it a try and start writing - I have been carrying an idea for a book - a mix of classical sci-fi, environmental and spiritual topics - for some time and last October it suddenly felt like the right time to express it in writing. So... voila... I have finished two books and self-published on Amazon only about a month ago (Title: Humans and other Aliens). Working on a third book right now and still loving it.
Regards,
Alex

@Travis- One never knows if or when the reading bug will kick in! Though I lost mine during college, then picked it up again. Hopefully your kids find the books that work for them. I guess I should have said, apart from fantasy and sci-fi, there are some really good kids books out there. I've been trying to keep track of favorites for other parents. But mine are young yet.

Ok. I haven't introduced myself yet.

My name is Steven Nedeau. My introduction to Fantasy happened when I came into the living room and saw a segment of the cartoon version of The Hobbit. My parents were divorced and I lived with my mother. We didn't own a television. One weekend when I was visiting my father, it was on. My step-mother had been turning the channel (pre remote control days) and got distracted by something that caused to walk away. I only got to see the scene where Bilbo speaks with Smaug, but I was hooked. To this day, I still enjoy that movie with my own children.

Books were my escape from a very early age. I bought my first book at a yard sale, with a quarter I found in a gutter, in Manchester, NH. That book was Tom Sawyer and I was seven. I read it twice that summer. Recently, my mother passed away and among her possessions was that book, torn and discolored. It sits on my bookshelf at home now.

Before I finished third grade, I had attended eight different schools. Living with my mother, we moved often. Her inability to maintain a job meant we had to pack and move without notice, sometimes in the middle of the night. My heart broke whenever I was forced to leave my things behind because we were about to be evicted. Many of my books and most of my toys were lost in those moves.

I read my mother's crime books. I read newspapers.

My first science fiction book was Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster. I got it for Christmas from my father when I was nine and I'll never forget it. That was also the year my father won custody of me. Moving so often, I didn't have any friends, and even though my father did not suffer my mother's problems with keeping a job, I changed schools five more times. My access to fantasy was limited by those financial circumstances and frequent school changes. During my preteen and early teen years, I read Stephen King and S.E. Hinton because I could find them in the library.

My high school years were the most stable of my life, three years in the same place. I started to meet people at school that held my interests and I began playing Dungeons&Dragons. These friends introduced me to books and series that I had never heard of:
The Lord of the Rings
The Hobbit
Dragonlance
Xanth
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

These books opened my mind and I explored as many books and films as I could find in the science fiction and fantasy genres.

I was a writer for my school paper as a freshmen. I acted during my senior and junior years. I was always an artist. I even taught dance, though I had never taken a lesson (first breakdancing as a teen, then Hip hop in my twenties). Even though I was steeped in an interest for all thing artistic, I went to school for engineering. I can't really call it a mistake. It pays the bills. But I don't love it.

After graduating I started reading again. I also started writing. I wrote a few short stories then I started fleshing out a book idea I had when I was only a teen. That's what led me here. Someone from my high school bought my book and suggested that I post it here on goodreads.

This is a much more intricate bio than I have on my author page. I'm sorry if it sounded like a sob story but I felt that I needed to express how hard it was to embrace Fantasy and Science Fiction in my early years and ultimately why it is so precious to me now.

My book is called The Soulweb. I'm still writing and planning a sequel for The Soulweb, but first I need to finish writing the science fiction novel I started last summer.

What am I reading now? I'm reading a collection of short stories by Philip K. Dick.

I also want to say hello and thank you to the people who make this forum possible.

Steven :)

Hello!

I'm trying to read a wide variety of books in order to find new favorite authors and series. I have found that participating in challenges and buddy reads really help with that goal!

Greetings new peeps!

Henry wrote: "Slowly moved on to more "serious" stuff - all the New Wave (Ellison, Delaney) but preferred Pangborn and Stapledon, who is probably my favourite SF author [...] So I am now trying to catch up on about 30 years [...] So far I am not really impressed with what I have found...."
Yes, I see exactly what you mean!
There are some authors still writing good hard SF, but they often wander off into other genres, so you may have tried something a bit off track and dismissed the author from further consideration.
Charles Stross is a good example - some of his best work is definitely Fantasy (Laundry Files) and some other stuff (Hidden Family, Merchant Princes, etc) is more SF but not his best. Try Singularity Sky for conventional SF and Halting State for light, mildly humorous (and horribly realistic!) near-future.
David Brin might also be worth a look, though I suspect your tastes are more traditional. Try The Postman or Earth. Leave Uplift Universe for later, if you like the style.
Then consider Peter F Hamilton - basically hard SF/Space Opera - he is pretty good, but he has a tendency to over-work his universes and go on a bit (3 books plus some related shorts, when he has good material for about one-and-a-half books, maybe two (just)).

Personally, I must admit, when I started to come back to F/SF I moved nearer to the Fantasy end of the spectrum, both for reading and for writing. Note that Niven started to move in the same direction with his Warlock stories and Burning City/Burning Tower. If you really don't like Fantasy and want to follow the hard SF of Niven's early traditions, then remember he opened up his playground (Known Space, particularly the Kzinti Wars) to some of his friends - go check them out!
I may have more suggestions later. For now, although I have moved very much into Fantasy, I am noticing similar problems - some current stuff just doesn't cut the mustard! I find I am also reading a lot of crime fiction, when I can find suitable intellectually driven low-violence material!
And even some YA! (Though not in any great quantity, and only when it has a strong SF bias - DEFINITELY NOT if it get slushy/romantic!) If you can stand that, look up Janet Edwards.

By the time I hit my teenage years in the early 90s I was hooked by popular fantasy and sci-fi books, tv, movies, & video games. Probably the first dozen books I read that weren't required for school were LOTR, the rest (6) of the Narnia series, and some Star Trek novels. For most of my 20s and 30s I was focused on non-fiction, but I'm shifting back towards fiction now.

Hi! :-) I'm Vitória a 23 years old brazilian girl.
This year is a realy busy one, so I haven't read much.

But I realy enjoyed:
The Handmaid's Tale
The Vegetarian
(I really loved this one, it's really incredible!)

I've been liking to read a lot of japanese authors.
My favorite one is Murakami, and I've read most of his books this year.
Murakami Haruki

Nice to meet you!

Greetings and salutations! I'm Bou, from the Netherlands and new to this group. Heck, I'm rather new to the fantasy genre. It all started with the GoT series, which got me into the (epic) fantasy world.

Some books that I have read untill now:
Stormlight Archive (Brandon Sanderson)
Kingkiller Chronicles (Patrick Rothfuss)

Currently reading A Crown for Cold Silver

Hoping to learn a lot in this group and receive some advice on what to read next. Do not hesitate to contact me, add a comment to one of my reviews or add me as a friend.

Hello all newcomers! Welcome and happy reading! Hope to see you in the discussion threads.

Hi, I'm Alan Zacher. Great to be with you. I lived in St. Louis most of my life, but my girlfriend was from Newport, TN. She wanted to move back, so five months ago, we did. I have three novels published.

Hello everyone! Thanks for having me!

I have always loved sci-fi and fantasy, though I do lean more to the fantasy side. There's just something about this genre that sings to me!

I love it so much I started publishing my own ;)

I won't even begin to list the books I've read, it would go on for days. I will say, I have a special place in my heart for dragons and wolves though!

I'm in the search for new reads too so I hope to find something new here!

Thank you!

Henry wrote: "Kelle wrote: "Hi Henry,

My husband's a big SF fan (I'm more fantasy), and he recommends these authors for old-school scientific rigor: Stephen Baxter, Charles Gannon, Jack McDevitt, and Wil McCart..."

And don't forget Greg Benford. He's an actual scientist, so his science is hard.

Hello! I'm Melissa. I'm trying to kickstart myself into reading more. I've been reading a lot less since having my daughter (who is now two). I love Sci-Fi and Fantasy. I lean towards soft SF. I really like short stories and podcasts.

Right now, I'm reading Crosstalk by Connie Willis.

Welcome, new readers! Hope to see you in discussion! We have some great threads going on easy to read sci fi (and also what I would classify as "not easy to read sci fi" if that's something that intrigues you!) so I hope you find something that fits you! Feel free to check the recommendation folder if you're in a slump, that usually energizes me :)

Hi, I'm Anna. I love sci-fi, fantasy books and immersing myself into another world -other than Earth- from time to time. I'm also an author for YA. I've had Red Rising & the series on my bookshelf for a while so I'll join the discussion. And make some connections with others with the same interest.
Thank you for the opportunity!

Hello, I'm Michael. I am into science fiction and some fantasy. I love Michael J. Sullivan's works. All of them. I'm a biologist, so I also really like works that have some connection or basis in known science. I definitely like imaginitve writing!

Welcome, Anna and Michael!

Michael wrote: "Hello, I'm Michael. I am into science fiction and some fantasy. I love Michael J. Sullivan's works. All of them. I'm a biologist, so I also really like works that have some connection or basis in k..."

Hi Michael.

Oh I love Michael J. Sullivan's works too! Amazing stories. And more coming! :D Welcome!

Hi there! I'm Federico. I am 25 year old physics student from Buenos Aires, Argentina. I read a lot, mostly sci-fi, horror and fantasy. For years Stephen King has been my favourite author, but now I'm more into sci-fi than before. I am currently reading Ready Player One, and finding it amazing.

Hello. I'm Roger, just Roger, nothing more. I've had a lifetime reading science fiction and only recently (5 years or so) started on fantasy. I really like (SF) near future stuff that I can believe in, I dislike cyberpunk, but like the idea of cyber fiction. In fantasy, I love the "grim" style a-la Joe Abercrombie and really enjoyed all of GRRM's Game of Thrones books. Confused? Yes, that's me.

I'm looking for a good, gritty SF/Fantasy series. Any suggestions would be seriously considered.

Ramble over. Thanks.

Hi all, pleased to meet you! My name's Gaz, I'm a writer and reader from the UK.

I'm a huge fan of all things nerdy, be it video games, table top games, science fiction, fantasy and horror.

Favourite fantasy authors include Pratchett, Brooks and Gemmell, as well as the obvious Tolkien. I'm partial to the Warhammer fantasy books, too, with their extra violence and vibrant use of magic.

Sci-fi-wise I'm a huge fan of the grim-dark Black Library novels from Games Workshop, but I'm also partial to some old-school Asimov.

Growing up I was (and still am) a huge fan of horror books; Herbert and Masterton being two of my favourites. I love the undercurrent of tension that runs through them, that slowly mounting sense of dread. And, of course, the grisly, graphic deaths.

As mentioned, I'm a writer myself, dark fantasy my poison, but as per rules I shan't promote them in this opening post, haha. Instead, I shall make a post in the author section of this group.

Hope you're all keeping well and happy reading!

Gaz

Hi folks, I'm an Australian writer. I love my fishing, a Friday night beer with the boys and my dog Meg. I've had a number of books published. My latest is a speculative fiction book about a dystopian future. The title is Old Year's day.

I'm a fan of speculative fiction, sci-fi, and fantasy.

Hello, I'm David. I have mostly read non fiction but recently have been getting acquainted with fantasy and sci-fi novels. I just completed slaughterhouse five and Alice in wonderland. I am open to all suggestions and would like to connect with book lovers of all sorts. I am currently reading the man who spoke snakish . It is very good so far a fantastical novel indeed.

Greetings! There are lots of good suggestions for speculative and fantastical novels of all sorts within these web pages.

Hi everyone,
I'm Dave, and old soldier, and have been reading SF since I was a young kid.
Grew up reading, Verne, Wells, Burroughs, Hamiliton, then on to Heinlein, Asimov, Niven, Clarke, Harrison, Dirkson, Hogan.
The New crop of writers I've enjoyed are, Stephenson, Peter F. Hamiliton, and VanderMeer.

Hello everyone.
My name is Kevin, and I'm from Liverpool.
I've been a fan of Sci-fi and fantasy for a long time.
This seems like a fun group, and I'm happy to be part of it.

Hi Kevin, we're happy to have you aboard!

Thank you for the welcome Bruce. Nice to be here.

Pfft. Oh, it's you is it, Kev? ;-)

But welcome both Dave and Kev! You're just in time to help us pick our October sci fi read, and you should do so!

Greetings. JT Thomas here, from Northern VA. Looking forward to participating here.

I've been a voracious reader, largely of science fiction and fantasy (with excursions into history, science, historical and literary fiction, and assorted crafts) since the early 80's, and, around 2009, I noticed that many of my favorite authors had experienced critical existence failure. The last straw came when Iain M. Banks sublimed mere days after I finished reading The Player of Games. So I figured a more structured approach to selecting reading material might be in order.

I am embarked upon a project to read everything* that's been nominated for a Hugo, Locus, or Nebula. As of this year, that turns out to be 2,291 novels, and 3,747 short works. I'm 2/3 of the way through the winning novels, 1/5 of the way through all nominated novels, 30% of the way through the Winning Shorts, and 13% through all nominated shorts. I read just under 40K pages a year on average, so this should keep me entertained for a couple of decades.

* Novel (any of them), Novella, Novelette, Short Story, and Series categories. The annual Puppy porno selection and anything that's strictly a paid e-book need not apply.

That's quite an ambitious project you have set for yourself JT. Kudos and good luck.