SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Welcome Jolie/Veronika! Glad to have you!

I hope you find all those things :) And it sounds like your reading lately has been really good stuff! We're actually discussing The Three-Body Problem if you'd like to join in!

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

It's been awhile since I've done a catch up, so you're just in time to finish up our two April reads if either appeal to you, or to jump in to group discussions about our May reads, Nimona and The Underground Railroad. If those aren't enough, we're also finishing up re-reads of The Man in the High Castle, The Fifth Season (another you can jump right into!!) and we'll soon be starting a reread of Ender's Game and The Last Unicorn.

We're also going to be reading Planetfall in the inclusive book bingo and have many ongoing and upcoming buddy reads!

But don't be overwhelmed, all of these are optional! We love having options. And reading too many books at once. And new friends in discussion!

Hi all!

I'm 35 from Pennsylvania. I've always loved sci-fi and fantasy ever since my Mom introduced me to Bradbury and Tolkien as a child. Since then I've read many of the classics but not nearly enough of them, not to mention more contemporary authors. Hence here I am! I'm hoping to get involved with the many discussions and first and foremost read more! See you around!

Welcome, Gary! Can't wait to see what sorts of books you find! Hope you find some good ones :D

Hello! My name's Paul. Was born in 1991 in South Africa, but mostly grew up in Catalonia, Spain. I met my wife in Israel, where I worked as a freelance journalist for a number of years, and now we've just moved to a small town on the foothills of the Pyrenees to raise our baby boy - and hopefully not move again for a long time! (We also have a cat called Winston Churchill.)
About myself, I like grand strategy video games (preferably by Paradox), black metal, whisky, food... mostly food. I currently run a translation company and write fiction for fun, since my experience as a reporter in the Middle East made we want to veto anything current-affairs-related until I restore a bit of my faith in humanity.
Reading is what I most enjoy. I get irritable if I don't find time to read. Or drink coffee. Or both.
I used to devour sci-fi and fantasy as a teenager, but then I hit 16 and decided my time would be better invested in reading "deeper" stuff.
What a clod.
The fact that I'm now here should at this point be pretty self-explanatory.
I hope you can help me discover fun, interesting stuff to read, and that I can return the favour in kind!

Hey Paul! Always like finding other metal head SFF fans. Looking forward to hear about your triumphant return to the genre, and hope you get to stay in one place for awhile!

Welcome, Ted!!

Hello everyone! It’s great to join you here. I am kinda a senior in college and have recently gotten back into reading. I’ve basically taken an 8 year hiatus and have finally gotten back into it. Gotta admit I have greatly missed it and am glad to be back into it. Feel free to add me and all that, I would love to expand my goodreads network and friends!

welcome, Darrik!

Hi, my name is Jim and live in a small town in Connecticut. Right on the border with MA at that funny looking notch. We have two nice libraries in town, and lots of nature. I will hit the big 5-0 come next March. I am married with a son and daughter and a very full library of my own books at home. I get together for Nerd Night every week to drink beers and play D&D. I am in a monthly Sci-Fi/Fantasy book club in town. I pretty much read most anything as long as it is at least semi-well written. I also collect some old writers, namely HP Lovecraft, any any beautiful old books.

Hey Jim, welcome! I'm from CT originally myself, but further south than you :) Sounds like a pretty sweet set up you've got, thanks for joining in with us--hope you find lots to read here!

Thanks Allyson! Actually I am originally from Maine, but lived in Buffalo and Vienna Austria. And yeah, I am pretty lucky, thanks

Hey all! I’m Sedat / 27 / from Turkey. I’m mostly into fantasy and sci fi so here I am :)

My current favourites are (like most people) all of Brandon Sanderson (I’ve just started reading his work and I’m in love!), Red Rising for Sci Fi.

I haven’t find time to check popular topics and join on the conversations but I’m looking for chatting with you all fantasy and Sci Fi lovers :)

By the way I read a lot till high school then life happened and I couldn’t read much (always regret the time I’ce lost) but I found my love for books and reading recently, oh boy I’ve missed a lot! I need to read so much to keep it up with so much awesome books there waiting for me to read them! I set myself 100 books this year but if nothing bad happens I might go for 150 :)

Welcome, Sedat! Man, you're really getting back into reading with a vengeance! I love it! I hope you find lots of what you "missed" and so many more new favorites with us!

Thank you for such a hearthy welcome, here is hoping always finding something to love and never stop reading again :)

Hi guys, my name is Karrah.

I read all the time, but I'm trying to be more active on here and find people who love to read, too. I've tried to start book clubs with my friends but they all failed, so I want people to talk about books with. I'm always looking for suggestions!

I've loved sci-fi and fantasy for a long time, I think I lean more toward fantasy. I love a good story about a knight defeating a dragon (for some reason, I can't find a lot of books like that...suggestions??) My sci-fi tastes are aliens and robots. I read other kinds of books, too. Drama, thriller, I've recently started getting into medical thrillers (I looked up books about fictional human experimentation, and here we are with medical thrillers.)

Outside of reading...I'm 26, taking classes for medical coding. I love all kinds of movies, but I'm big on horror movies, Halloween is my favorite holiday. And I love photography, it's my passion and hobby, and if I could quit my job and travel and take pictures I would, but alas, I must to work to support my book buying habit, and comic book collecting addiction.

I think it'll be a lot of fun here though! :)

Hey Karrah! Sounds like you're our kind of people :D

I highly recommend you head over to Recommendations and Lost Books and ask for whatever sounds cool to you there! That tends to get more attention and we have some very knowledgeable folks who are great to badger--I mean crowdsource-- for ideas haha

Hope to see you in chat, and head on over to the polls to help us pick next month's books!!

Hi! My name is Judy. I am just barely old enough to have watched Star Trek (The Original) when it went on the air, although it was repeated viewings on Channel 56 in Boston (yes I live in Massachusetts) that turned me into an addict. I enjoy both Sci-Fi and Fantasy, but I am more likely to watch Sci-Fi and read Fantasy - not exclusive, just more likely. In Sci-Fi, I lean towards Space Opera and Space Fantasy, although I believe that Asimov's original Foundation is among the greatest books ever read. In Fantasy, I'm more contemporary and Urban, but I'll try it all.

I love, love, love talking about books. Not just what have you read, but who is your favorite author, why do you read what you read, why do you avoid what you avoid, what was your first grown-up book. All kinds of questions.

I'm part of a Mystery Book Club that meets at my library. I review books here on Goodreads. I'm part of a challenge on Facebook. I'm doing too many challenges, but I'm enjoying it.

I read "real" books, comic books, books on kindle and audiobooks thanks to my longish commute.

Non book related. I love to be creative. I love fiber arts like quilting, crocheting, knitting and needlepoint. I love role playing games and board games. I'm currently on a break from LARPing, but I still play D&D and Fate based games.

Hey, Judy!! Glad to have you here. We also love talking books! Just last night, we were having dinners with friends and everyone was griping about little things in their lives..jobs, pets etc and I was like "I totally understand, I had to stop reading an audiobook because it was making me hate the story, so now I have to read it all with my eyes and it's gonna take me a month."

And now I've told everyone again! I hope you'll share some of your stories around...we have lots of threads already open about favorites and such and a veeery chatty crew that loves to hear from new folks! I hope to see you in chat and that you find tons of great books!

Hi, I am an independent Sci-Fi author. I have been reading Sci-Fi and Fantasy since I was very young (I'm now 48) and particularly enjoyed the works of David Gemmell and Peter F Hamilton. I've been broadening my intake recently, partaking of a little Stephen King and a lot of H P Lovecraft.

Welcome Steve, David Gemmell and Peter F Hamilton .. a man after my own heart lol

James wrote: "Welcome Steve, David Gemmell and Peter F Hamilton .. a man after my own heart lol"
Thanks James, I actually got to meet David Gemmell once, he's a sad loss. My continued interest, and recent delve, into writing is very much inspired by him.

Yes, Welcome!

Allison wrote: "Yes, Welcome!"
Thank you. I'll try to be as active as I can, however, and I don't know if this the same for other writers, I can't read a sci-fi novel while I'm reading one. I seem to be ok reading a different genre but that same genre bug just will not budge. I'll have to make sure I have plenty of time to read Peter F Hamilton's new release in September without harming my schedule!

Steve wrote: "Allison wrote: "Yes, Welcome!"
Thank you. I'll try to be as active as I can, however, and I don't know if this the same for other writers, I can't read a sci-fi novel while I'm reading one. I seem ..."

Definitely! Before you jump in, may I suggest reading our thread "everything you need to know?" It's a great place to start ^^

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Allison wrote: "Steve wrote: "Allison wrote: "Yes, Welcome!"
Thank you. I'll try to be as active as I can, however, and I don't know if this the same for other writers, I can't read a sci-fi novel while I'm readin..."
Thanks, I've had a look.

Hi everyone! I'm Kira, and I've been a fan of fantasy ever since the age of 5 when I discovered a coffee table book of fairy illustrations at my grandpa's house. The sci-fi obsession came later, when I was old enough to start watching Star Trek TNG with my family after dinner.

I also write fantasy and sci-fi with my husband, who introduced me to a LOT of great authors that are now among my all-time favorites, like David Eddings and Raymond Feist... although I will take credit for turning HIM onto Terry Pratchett. High five for me!

And there are so many more great authors out there that I'm discovering all the time! Which is why I'm here, so give to me all the recommendations! Can't wait to start reading more! Just wish there were more hours in the day...

James Terzian I have written three book based off the martial arts fantasy. Hope to hear more from this groups. My favorite book in Fantasy is the Harry Potter. I have also read several indie book that I bought from book fair I attended

Welcome Kira! Doing the work of saints spreading Pratchett to the masses ;-)

Hope you find many more great books, looking forward to chatting in discussion!

James wrote: "James Terzian I have written three book based off the martial arts fantasy. Hope to hear more from this groups. My favorite book in Fantasy is the Harry Potter. I have also head several indie book ..."

Welcome James! Harry Potter is great!

Hey all my name is Sanah and I live in the US. I have been a fan of fantasy for a while and have been slowly getting into the sci-fi genre. I love to read YA, but I want to branch out a little into mystery/crime, so help a girl out with some recommendations! :) Super excited to be here and join in on challenges

Hey Sanah! Glad to have you! Hope you find so many new things to like :)

We're about to start Ancillary Mercy, the third in a series (which some group members are reading together) as our sci-fi book. It's a really cool world if you're new-ish to sci fi.

And for our fantasy book, we're about to read Into the Drowning Deep. We also have a lot of buddy reads going on and of course our re-reads and challenges!

So maybe something in all of that will speak to you ^^

Hello my name is Josen (pronounced like Jasen, except with an "O") :) and I'm from southern California. I reallly thought I was good with all the book groups I'm in and then I fell upon this one. I can't believe I'm not in a group for these genres! I love fantasy but for some reason I never considered myself a scifi fan, which I don't know why because I consistently read scifi books and watch so many scifi shows. So, in a nutshell, yes I'm a scifi fan. :) I'm really looking forward to the upcoming reads in this group!

Sanah wrote: "Hey all my name is Sanah and I live in the US. I have been a fan of fantasy for a while and have been slowly getting into the sci-fi genre. I love to read YA, but I want to branch out a little into..."

If you like fine writing, James Lee Burke is excellent - though it probably helps that he often writes about decorative & historic New Orleans (a truly fantastic city, especially for music, if you've never been...).

Howdy Josen! So glad you could join us :) Looking forward to hearing what you think of the books you're reading!

Hey, John! Glad to have you! We're doing a buddy read of the Wheel of Time and just finished buddy reading Dune! Classics (although I have to admit I'm reading WoT SO SLOWLY it's sort of ridiculous. I blame the pretty weather).

Hope you find lots to enjoy with us!

John wrote: "Allison wrote: "I blame the pretty weather)."
You should invest in a hammock, that way you could read and enjoy at the same time. I am a huge proponent of relaxation education."

Sounds great! Now, to figure out how to get my spouse to put it up for me so I can spend all my time outdoors reading ;-)

Try Alistair Reynolds House of sons and if really ambitious Ian Banks Matter

New to site. Interesting to see what people are reading today. I fell in love with science fiction after reading a short trilogy called White Mountain by John Christopher when I was 12. Then went on to read foundation series first 3. Read 4 and 5 later when published. Move on to all Azimov, all Heinlein, Clark, Bear, Mcdevitt, Scalzi, and Bova and Niven. Took a break from sci do for about 10 years and read mainstream fiction. About 7 years ago I started to write my recently published novel "Fountain Found" which is a sci fi technology thriller dealing with bringing a tech to the world that cures all health issues including aging. This process brought me back to my love for sci fi. Recently have read all Stephen Baxter until he got into the alternative history stuff which I do not enjoy. Moved on to Alistair Reynolds and Iain Banks.

Who should I read next?

Welcome, Allen! Glad to have you! I'm biased, but we have a few really good picks for our June group read and rereads, like Ancillary Mercy (though it's the third and final in a series we've read already--I recommend them all!) plus Ender's Game and Old Man's War. All three are very different and quite interesting!

Boyko, welcome! While I understand people might want to briefly mention they're authors in their introduction, we do not allow promotion in this thread. Feel free to post again or see our rules and add a post to the appropriate folder. Thanks!

Nick wrote: "I was born May 24, 1979 in Logan, WV..."

Hi there, everyone!

Nick, I was coincidentally also born in 1979 (February) and in a town called Logan (although not the one in West Virginia).

I have a love/hate relationship with science fiction, because generally the Hollywood version of science fiction is sensationalized. Stanley Schmidt, the editor for Analog Science Fiction and Fact, 2013 January/February until 2012, famously said that technically science fiction must have a plot to which an aspect of science is integral. His prime example is Frankenstein, because without the biochemical and anatomical science Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's story would dissolve. This is the brand of science fiction that I value.

I also tend to like work that is more grounded and tangible. For instance, I just finished Super Sad True Love Story, which was pretty decent, but I was not a fan of Artemis at all; to me the latter didn't even seem like science fiction since the science aspect was negligible. Some of my favorite science fiction novels are Kafka's The Metamorphosis, Orwell's 1984, and Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake. The first two primarily exploit the science of psychology and sociology for their plots, and the last one emphasizes the science of bioengineering.

I'm a biological researcher currently working on my PhD in insect ecology and evolution, and I'm also a bit of a writer. I've published a handful of non-fiction articles about science in magazines, and I also wrote a novel that is based entirely on future projections of current science and trends in society. I hope to find some very enlightening discussions here!

Hello, I am David and I live in Brisbane Australia. I read Star Wars, Star Trek, Tolkien, Orwell and Bond.

Welcome Jared and David! You're just in time to start our monthly reads and vote for July's!

Hi everyone, I'm Zile and I live in Massachusetts. I mostly dig fiction with a heavy tendency toward fantasy and sci-fi. This year I've read:
Final Notice
Super Highway 1 and 2
The Iron Druid Chronicles up to book 5
Can I be Frank?
Tempests and Slaughter
Ready Player One (reread)
Armada (reread)
The Expansion
Heartaches (worst book I've ever read)
Dragonfriend
And a who truckload of children's books

Nice to meet you all. I can't wait to see what you like to read!

Hey Zile! We just finished (almost finished??) a read through of the whole Tortall world as a buddy read! Tempests and Slaughter is on my list for when someone takes some of these other books out of my hands...I should get someone to do that.

Now as a group we're reading about mermaids (but not that kind) and an ambulatory AI of indiscriminate age and gender!

I don't think maybe I sold that as best I could, but I hope you check it out anyways :D

Hello group! I'm getting active again these days online and wanted to definitely spend some time on Goodreads. As many others I have an ulterior motive for coming out here but will definitely follow the rules. And so, based on the instructions I saw:

Name: DS Brown
Favorite Books: Tolkien, Clarke, Asimov, Brin, Bear, Simmons, Butler, Due, and more. I'm easy. I just love reading.
Favorite Genres: Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Military, Thriller, Horror, Non-Fiction
Favorite TV shows: Right Now - I'm really easy. I don't put up much of a fuss, but if I had to pick: Expanse (someone has GOT to pick this up), Six, Lost In Space, Luke Cage (It's coming and I know it' s gonna be hot, so I have to add), Black Lightning (the musical track adds too much flavor to the story, just sick! I love it!), Star Trek Discovery, I've been rewatching BSG and Farscape, just AWESOME! And some more stuff. You name it I probably can find something redeeming in it.
Favorite Movies: I went to see Star Wars at 7 years of age. It has been a constant companion all my life. Like many I'm not partial to the prequels, was never a fan of the funny, cuddly stuff. Empire was my favorite. But, unlike some I don't practice any kind of hate. I actually enjoyed The Last Jedi. I just can't figure out why these live action folks don't understand taking the power (literally) of the Force and stories from the books and cartoons would make for GREAT cinema. Lost on me. Oh, I really enjoyed SOLO (Like I said, I'm easy). LOTR all time favorite movies. I geeked out when I saw Dark Night for the first time, same feeling I had with the Spider Man (Tobey). I thought, they got it right, finally. I'm not hard on the DCEU or the MCEU. I just like to see superheroes on film. And of course, if I didn't say I LOVE BLACK PANTHER I would have to abdicate my American-African (purposely stated) card. I mean, the move was SICK! Loved it!
Favorite Food: I was a fat kid, before I found sports. I like almost anything, and yeah I love Fried Chicken, so what. I actually have come to LOVE veggies, all of them. I'm a geek for a gourmet Burger (I'm lying, I even love McD's cheeseburgers, again I'm easy). I can live on Sushi. My family is Creole, love seafood.
Day Job: Working for myself these days. 9 written books, 4 patents, consulting, coding, and generally talking smack to make a dollar.
Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Exercising, Inventing, Dreaming.
Other: I have a highly addictive personality that I have to constantly manage, and a bad case of ADD which I passed on to my child. Basically I find everything fascinating and shiny and have to work to stay focused.

Welcome DS! I hope you finds lots to love here with us! And yes!! So much good TV coming back. Real curious where Luke Cage is gonna go.

Thanks Allison!

Hello everyone, I am a retired native Houstonian. I have recently discovered GoodReads, looking for recommendations on good science fiction books. when I was in the 6th grade I read on 2nd year college level. I would read at least 1 book a day. I would check out as many books as they would let me at the school library and then return them all and check out more. We moved a lot so I do not think the librarians thought that I was really reading them!! I was a great book critic, but did not even know such a thing existed. I could tell who the author was without looking and spot paragraphs that they had copied from another book!!
My worst habit now, is reading all night !! so I often get my nights and days mixed up. My current other hobbies are, scrapbooking, doing holiday favors for the local senior shut ins, sewing, crochet, beading (sewn on cloth), leading an adult coloring class, gardening, and cooking all my paleo meals !!! I just read the Crystal Singer (3 books) & totally loved those books. Looking for my next read to be as good!! I have ventured out of Science Fiction to read London by Edward Rutherfurd & like it !! too many other books to list here but they are on this site under my book lists! Finished the Outlander series 2 years ago & loved those books with the authors skill of character development and weaving the various minor characters in and out of the plot !!

Hello, Jeannine!! Sounds like you're having a great retirement! Glad you've found us--we love book critics!