SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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Former Introduction Thread
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haha! So true. Best of both worlds :D
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Hello! My name is Tierney and I am thrilled to be joining this community. I am currently a 19-yo college student at UW (International Studies major/minor in Middle Eastern studies) and have enjoyed a lifelong career of hardcore geek. However, it was only recently that I really found the wonderful niche of sci-fi fantasy. It was like a whole new- no MILLIONS of new worlds- had opened. So it's been a crazy summer.
I have read the first books of Pratchett, Hitchhiker's Guide, Once and Future King, Double and Heinlein's Double Star, am in the process of reading Mistborn (oh. my. gosh.), and have purchased the first in the Wheel of Time series as well as Way of Kings. I am wide open to ANY suggestions as to the Absolute Staple Scifi books as well as the hidden gyms.
Not only am I in love with the books- I am in love with the people! The community is great and so I can't wait to be a part of it!
-T
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Yessss! OaFK is my all time favorite! So glad you young'uns are still reading it. We're voting on two books right now in our polls, starting to discuss 2 group reads and in the middle or just starting what feels like a bajillion buddy reads, so I invite you to poke around and see what sounds fun! Glad to have you, can't wait to hear what new books you find!
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...
Hi Tierney, welcome. I always urge folks who are new or newish to SF and Fantasy to read Connie Willis. Her work is supremely human and accessible. Doomsday Book is my favorite of hers.
Hi everyone!Just joined this group the other day, and I've been excited to see so many enthusiastic fans and awesome recommendations already!
I have always been a sci-fi fan as I grew up watching Star Trek with my Dad. My first exposure to the literary side of the genre, however, was Ender's Game, which led me down the rabbit hole to read more and more great sci-fi books. I got into fantasy first through audiobooks, starting The Name of the Wind, and now I love fantasy just as much as sci-fi. Recently, I've also been getting more into horror books too, particularly weird and cosmic horror - I seem to really like weird and obscure creatures, monsters, and/or aliens in my stories.
I live in Minneapolis and I'm an elementary school teacher as well, which has given me the opportunity to find new books in these genres that are aimed at kids. There are a lot of great stories for younger kids that I've found for read-alouds or for simply recommending to kids if they show an interest.
Glad to be a part of the group! Looking forward to some good discussions and learning about more great reads!
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David here, Retired but spent last 14 years working at front desk in a local library. Never read any books during time at library and trying to catch up on that now!
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Welcome David! You must either have a very strong will or they worked you way too hard!! I hope you find some great books :)
Hi everyone, my name is Olya. I'm a big sci-fi fan although not as well-read or educated in the genre as I'd like to be - there're lots and lots of books and shows and movies, fantasy or sci-fi, that are still ahead for me.I'm a huge Doctor Who nerd (new series, classic series, audio, books, etc.), seriously, I can talk about it for hours if you don't stop me or run away. I'm also in the process of plunging into Star Trek Universe which I find very endearing and optimistic and overall fascinating.
Among my favourite books are Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, Neverwhere (and, well, everything) by Neil Gaiman, All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill (not fantasy per se but, well).
I've never been a part of any group on Goodreads properly so I'm yet to find out how it works but I'm just happy to try it and to meet new people who are into the same stuff (aka fantasy and sci-fi) and to find some good books to read. Glad to join you all, really!
Mod
Sorry to say, no fans here.
KIDDING!! I am kidding, of course :)
The books you mention are quite popular among many here. I hope you have lots of wonderful discussions and find oodles of new books!
We're almost done with the polls for our August book, so if you'd like to start off with a bang, help us pick what to read!
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...
Hello! My name is Jessica, I am new here and still finding my way around. I am 27 I have three university degrees. All of them are insanely different. I love to read fantasy books, really anything with magic in it at the moment I am binge reading Robin Hobbs books. This year I have finished the Farseer trilogy, The Twany Man series and I am steadily working my way through Fiz and the Fool series.
When I am not making time to sneak off and read books, I am writing them. I have just finished my second novel, and I am itching to get the next one started!
My favorite color is green. I wear brightly colored odd socks. My girlfriend agreed to marry me (and all my strangeness), so now I am in the midst of planning a wedding, and, in true lesbian fashion, I have two cats.
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Thank you. It's all very exciting. It has been an interesting experience with two bridezillas, but I am sure everyone will make it out alive :D
J.D. wrote: "Hello! My name is Jessica, I am new here and still finding my way around. I am 27 I have three university degrees. All of them are insanely different. I love to read fantasy books, really anything..."
I didn't see you mention Liveship Traders or Rainwild Traders. You're missing out on a lot by skipping those.
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Also, my original intro is so outdated now over ten years ago!
Welcome and hi to everyone here!
Now off to find dystopian novels to read!
Rob wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Hello! My name is Jessica, I am new here and still finding my way around. I am 27 I have three university degrees. All of them are insanely different. I love to read fantasy books, re..."
Hi Rob,
I will be sure to check them out next!
J.D. wrote: "Rob wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Hello! My name is Jessica, I am new here and still finding my way around. I am 27 I have three university degrees. All of them are insanely different. I love to read fanta..."
I'd honestly recommend stopping the Fitz & Fool books and reading the other two series before continuing the rest of Fitz & Fool, but it may be too late for that now..
Yikes, the boss stopped by while I was sleeping!Nick, I thought you were Allison at first. I just looked at the mod highlight, knew it wasn't me, and thus assumed it's Allison. I felt very confused for a second there! :D
Thanks for starting this group, it has become my GR home :)
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Mod
I remember being excited when we reached 100 members! I may try to be a little more active here and there, but not as a "boss" at all lol!
The place is in amazing hands. At this point I am trying to get my profile fixed up...
Hi @Nick it would be great to talk to you! (as part of this project - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...)
Rob wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Rob wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Hello! My name is Jessica, I am new here and still finding my way around. I am 27 I have three university degrees. All of them are insanely different. I love ..."
Rob wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Rob wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Hello! My name is Jessica,
I am new here and still finding my way around. I am 27 I have three university degrees. All of them are insanely different. I love ..."
Rob wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Rob wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Hello! My name is Jessica,
I am new here and still finding my way around. I am 27 I have three university degrees. All of them are insanely different. I love ..."
Oh, I don't think I could stop mid-series. But I will certainly try to get hold of them next! The series was lent to me by a friend, so I just began with the book they gave me.
Hello everyone! My name is Andrew.I'm 22 years old and have just recently gotten into this beautiful SF world! I actually have been writing a SF novel for the last two and half years or so. Going through some of the worst training whilst serving in the US Army sprouted the creativity in my head and allowed me to get where I am today. It's awesome seeing the recommendations so far, speaking of that I have just gone into the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov. Looking forward to discussions and much else of what this group can offer!
J.D. wrote: "Rob wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Rob wrote: "J.D. wrote: "Hello! My name is Jessica, I am new here and still finding my way around. I am 27 I have three university degrees. All of them are insanely differ..."
Gotcha. The actual order of the books is
Farseer Trilogy
Liveship Traders Trilogy
Tawny Man Trilogy
Rainwild Traders Chronicles
Fitz and Fool trilogy
A lot of people skip Liveship Traders and Rainwild because they don't follow Fitz, but there are a lot of people and places in the final series that come from there.
Hi, I'm Karin, and realize I forgot to post here before posting elsewhere. I was born & raised in Canada (spent 6 years in Ontario as an adult, but am from BC) but married an American and have been living in the States for the past 25 years.I have been reading scif since I was 10 (before, I think, but I mean hard core scifi not written for kids--got introduced by a friend), but I read a variety of kinds of books. My biggest scifi years were ages 10-18ish, but I still read some. I have forgotten most of the scifi I read back then as it wasn't classic and hasn't lived on, but of course was reading Heinlein, Jules Verne, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury and other classic writers in the mix.
Right now I'm reading the dystopian (and also scifi to some extent) We and a y/a scifi book Reaper. Also, I'm listening to the audio of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
As for fantasy, I very rarely read it now, but certainly read it in my teens and younger (I was quite young when I read The Hobbit).
Mod
Hi Everyone, my name is Victoria, I am 33 year old. I am Argentinean living in The Netherlands with my family. I have always been an avid reader but wanted to join a book club to meet new authors, new books and I always loved SciFi and Fantasy. With a toddler son, my reading time has become (yet) ever so precious and I want to make the most of it.Your challenges seem gigantic at the time for me, so I'll content myself reading the monthly book(s).
Look forward to reading and sharing with you all,
Mod
The challenges are always optional :) Heck, even the monthly reads! I do hope you find some great books with us, whatever method speaks to you. In about a week, we'll be voting on some new books, so I hope you'll weigh in on what sounds good to you!
Hi, I'm Kirsten! So I realized I've been a member for a while and haven't yet done an introduction. But I finally finished grad school classes last month, and now, after a bit of a break, I'm looking forward to getting back into more SFF reading. I'm really excited to finally finish The Stone Sky, as I loved the first two books (but also a little sad to run out of new N.K. Jemisin books to read).I love way too many books to try to list favorites here, but things I enjoy in a story include lots of world-building; well-written, diverse characters, especially queer characters; political/social/ethical themes or questions; and ideas that are original, unique, or just plain weird. Right now I'd say I read a bit more fantasy than sci-fi, but I like both. Some books I've managed to read and enjoy this year include Point of Sighs, Jade City, and City of Betrayal.
I'm happy to meet you all, and looking forward to chatting about lots of books!
Mod
Hey Everyone,I’ve actually had a goodreads account for a while but never used it and forgot about it, but I’m about to make the jump from Nook to Kindle so wanted to try to get more out of the platform! I grew up loving reading, anything I could get my hands on really, my older sister would set me up with books she thought were good, and away I went. She liked fantasy and fiction, so that’s what I grew up on.
In college I completely stopped reading. A reading/writing intensive major plus trying to balance job and a social life left me drained and unwilling to look at even more works on a page.. I read four books for pleasure all through college. Ugh.
Once I graduated it took me a while to get back into the hobby, but I’ve been reading again for about four years now! I pretty exclusively read fantasy, and am hoping goodreads and this book club will help me break into some more genres, like sci fi. I read a few of the Dune books and love them, so hopefully I can get a lot more from the genre.
My wife reads pretty much anything I do, so she’ll be unwittingly participating in this book club as well :D
I’ve worked in higher education since I graduated, which is rewarding but grueling, so reading is one of my favorite escapes from work stress alongside my beautiful family, woodworking, video games, and hopefully soon backyard chickens and vegetable garden.
I look forward to reading with you all! I apologize for the thesis I just vomited onto this thread!
Mod
Hm. I sometimes wonder if we read too much and then I remember that that's an impossibility.
Anyways, glad to have you, let us know if we can show you around at all!
Hello! I'm looking forward to participating here--I want to do a better job of regularly including more SFF in my reading diet. I tend to trip over trilogies and series, because I can never seem to remember all the important things from previous books, but a couple years ago, I discovered the immersive magic~ of binging on completed series when I went through Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy in short succession. I keep meaning to do MORE of that (and have specifically set the goal of re-reading Ninefox Gambit and following through with the next two books), and just more SFF in general. I have both of August's group reads, so I'm very optimistic. :)
Mod
Also, Ninefox and the rest of the Machineries of Empire are some of Anna and my favorites, so I do hope you get to the whole story!
Hi everyone!I'm Dania and I'm a 22-year-old engineering student currently studying at UNSW, Australia. I've been in a reading slump lately and what got me out of it was a science fiction book set in space, so I want to discover more sci-fi books that hopefully I will enjoy! I've always been a big fan of fantasy so I'm not too worried about that genre.
Also, I did a buddy read with one of the members here (Laura) and she always has so many good books to recommend, so I figured since she's also in this group, I'd also be able to discover more good books :P
Hello!My name is Olivier, I am an IT Consultant originally from Montreal, Canada, now living in Tampa FL and hopefully moving to Charleston SC in the near future.
I have written for the Shadowrun roleplaying game, and am a HUGE fan of cyberpunk - but I also do read a wide variety of other kinds of books - detective noir, fantasy, things I don't know how to describe... :)
Working on a novel of my own now (loooong way to go), and that has been an interesting challenge of late!
Just started "getting into" Goodreads. Seems like a nice place to chat about books I love, so looking forward to exchanging with y'all.
Olivier wrote: "Hello!My name is Olivier, I am an IT Consultant originally from Montreal, Canada, now living in Tampa FL and hopefully moving to Charleston SC in the near future.
I have written for the Shadowrun..."
Welcome Olivier! I've been on goodreads in the past, but am also fairly new here as I'm finally getting into it in earnest. Good luck on your novel! A friend of mine writes, and as someone who struggles to write a comment, much less a book, it's been really interesting seeing his process and challenges, best of luck to you on it!
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Hi, I'm Erica and I hope to participate in some sort of book club so that I could try to discuss books with others. I rarely get to talk about books in real life especially at my job. I think I'm suffering a slump, but I would like to branch out into more sci-fi/fantasy. I have read a few books such as Dune, Name of the Wind, and Foundation. I also tend to read usually historical non/fiction and comics. Hopefully I will be able to participate with you guys since I am usually a lurker on Goodreads and other sites.
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Hello,My Name is Carol. Found this place on a search. I read any book that catches my eyes, but mostly that tends to be Science Fiction and Fantasy. Or ears now as I've discovered Audiobooks and Audio Dramas (Big Finish and Audible). And yes, my current story obsession, or one of them, is anything in the Doctor Who Universe. If we're talking books, well, I have an endless list but one of my all-time favorite authors is Ann McCaffrey. Especially the Pern Series. I do tend to series a lot. Currently, I'm getting back into Marion Bradley Zimmer's Fall of Atlantis which I'd had as a paperback but never managed to finish and eventually wound up cleaning out my room and giving to a friend. Now I have it on ebook, I'm starting from the beginning again. Basically, I'm addicted to stories and my first love of them is always going to be reading them.
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Allison wrote: "Welcome, Carol! McCaffrey holds a dear place in my heart, too! Glad to have you, hope you find many more new favorites :-)"There's always something, isn't there? :) And thank you!
Hello all,My name is Jim and for all intents and purposes I've been off Goodreads for about the last four years. During that time I was writing a science fiction trilogy. The third and final book was just published this last weekend. I didn't read any books during that time as I didn't want to be influenced by other authors. The next book I read will be The Martian by Andy Weir who also was kind enough to chat with me briefly on Facebook. If anyone has any fantastic marketing ideas please let me know! Happy reading!
James wrote: "Hello all,My name is Jim and for all intents and purposes I've been off Goodreads for about the last four years. During that time I was writing a science fiction trilogy. The third and final book..."
Welcome Back!
Carol wrote: "James wrote: "Hello all,My name is Jim and for all intents and purposes I've been off Goodreads for about the last four years. During that time I was writing a science fiction trilogy. The third ..."
Thank you Carol, I appreciate it. It's good to be back!
Mod
Nick wrote: "I was born May 24, 1979 in Logan, WV. Until the age of 15 I lived in Mingo County, WV near Delbarton when I moved to Swansboro, NC with my mother due to my parents divorce. I graduated in 1997 from..."Welcome! Awesome list of books. :)
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SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
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my name is Gabi and I'm from Germany (so please bear with some strange grammar I may use).
I used to be an avid SF reader in my teens. Literally all of my pocket money went into ..."
Hi Gabi!! Wow, what an excellent series to start off your second SFF life! I hope you enjoy it and many more to come. Really glad you've found time for books again and that you found us! I hope you'll find some great discussions and too many good-sounding books for your TBR shelf.