SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

Hello everyone,

I'm Danielle, 27 and living in Shaker Heights, Ohio (suburb of Cleveland). Recently married, recently bought a house, and recently achieved an MBA degree with a concentration in Accounting. I'm aiming to sit for the CPA exam within the next year. Currently working as an Accountant at a tech start-up that's doing really well (despite the economy).

Since it seems like all the big stuff in life is happening to me right now (especially studying for classes and the CPA), it's been difficult to set aside time for reading. I've always loved books, and it makes me a little sad that I have to make an effort to put aside reading time right now.

I joined Goodreads to keep track of all the books I want to read but just don't have time to. I wanted to join a bookclub locally, but the group that meets in my neighborhood has turned into a bunch of middle-aged women who gather to drink wine; they've given up reading/discussing the books. The reading clubs at my local library don't read the type of books in which I'm interested. So here I am! I doubt I'll have time to read December's books, but January is looking good!

Interesting, Sarah. Thanks for the insights.

Welcome Sherri! I too have been spending too much time online recently to get any reading done and the TBR stack is taking over the house! Don't you wish sometimes that you could take a year off of work sometime just to read? And still get paid, of course...

Greetings all. My name's Ethan and I live in Sacramento, Ca. Im an out-of-the-closet fantasy fiction nerd, much to the chagrin of my friends and family ha ha. That being said, I'm stoked I found this group because I've always had a hard time coming up with new books to read once I've exhausted an authors catalog. Cheers!

Welcome sherri,
I also fight the evil reading glasses. I got by well before I had them so I had the book a couple feet from my face.

Now I spend more time looking for the durn things then reading.

kevin

I must be the spring chicken i'm still an adultescense(young adult what ever). I love fantasy with a passion!!♥☺♥☺♥But my teacher insists i read a diversity of genres.I'm a spelling dwit excuss mistakes.

Kevinalbee wrote: "Welcome sherri,
I also fight the evil reading glasses. I got by well before I had them so I had the book a couple feet from my face.

Now I spend more time looking for the durn things then read..."

... welcome to life after 40, Kevin. :P

Reading glasses & light. I actually have to carry a flashlight now, especially when I get under a desk to check connections on a PC. Hold books to catch the light & a certain distance away. Yuck.

I have been registered on goodreads for a while, but am active relatively recently, so an 'SF' introduction makes sense. Born in 1960, I started reading SF at a very early age, as my father was a book reviewer for the St Paul newspaper, and we had review copies of some great 1950s SF, e.g. Bradbury, on the shelves at home. I still have them, and all this time have read and kept most of what I have read. It's a personal library now of 3000 vols. No one can really keep up with the SF genre today, it's just too big, but I sure try. Concurrently, am a workaholic in high tech, and raising a family.

Welcome, welcome, welcome to all you newbies!!

Hello
My name is Jane and I'm a computer programmer from Washington DC. I love fiction ... especially fantasy. My favorite author is Brandon Sanderson. I have a huge library but only posting on GR things that I've read since joining becausee it would take me forever to post them all - lol.

Interested in finding some great reads from the group.

Hello,
I've been a fantasy fan since I first read LOTR at 13. I love the fantasy genre but for some reason can't get into Sci-fi too much - though I do like some sci-fi movie/TV shows (Star Trek, Babylon 5, StarWars etc).

I'm married to a fantasy writer - he wrote a 6 book series and I'm the only one who has read the whole thing -- Book 1 is out Book 2 comes in April.

Looking to find some new fantasy books to explore.

Wife of GR author: Michael J. Sullivan | The Crown Conspiracy (10/08) | Avempartha (04/09)

Welcome Jane,
It is good to see a fellow programmer in the group. What language do you primarily use?

Welcome Robin,
I read the sample chapters of The Crown Conspiracy and thought it looked interesting.

Hello out there. Since everyone seems to be starting out with their age, I was born in 1980, and am therefore 28 right now. I am from, and now live in again, North Carolina. I majored in Spanish and Latin American studies in undergraduate school, promptly moved to Japan for a year (JET), came back to the US and got a largely useless MA in TESOL, the worked at an autism specialty bookstore, and now I'm at the East Asian Studies department of a university as an admin coordinator. So I have, um, varied interests.

My most steady interest all my life has been reading, though. The first fantasy I remember reading that opened my eyes to the genre, as opposed to children's books, was the Harper Hall trilogy in Anne McCaffrey's Pern series. Then it turned out that my dad actually knew a lot about science fiction, and I had an aunt and uncle who were hugely enthusiastic about introducing me to new fantasy authors... and now I have a special room in my house with nothing but fantasy/sci fi books on its shelves. All the "other stuff" has been banished to the basement.

Looking back at my record of this year's reading, it seems that a lot of this year's fantasy/sci fi has been rereading old favorites, with some fun new discoveries thrown in. Rereads are denoted with a *:

First Test, by Tamora Pierce
Page, by Tamora Pierce
Squire, by Tamora Pierce
Lady Knight, by Tamora Pierce
Arrows of the Queen, by Mercedes Lackey*
Arrow’s Flight, by Mercedes Lackey*
Arrow’s Fall, by Mercedes Lackey*
By the Sword, by Mercedes Lackey*
Wyrd Sisters, by Terry Pratchett*
Witches Abroad, by Terry Pratchett*
Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchett*
Maskerade, by Terry Pratchett*
Carpe Jugulum, by Terry Pratchett*
Summon the Keeper, by Tanya Huff
The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley*
Moving Mars, by Greg Bear*
Foreigner, by CJ Cherryh
Invader, by CJ Cherryh
Book of a Thousand Days, by Shannon Hale
Inheritor, by CJ Cherryh
Precursor, by CJ Cherryh
The Fox Woman, by Kij Johnson
Mort, by Terry Pratchett*
Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett*
Soul Music, by Terry Pratchett*
Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett*
Defender, by CJ Cherryh
Explorer, by CJ Cherryh
The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova
Feast of Souls, by C.S. Friedman
Jack of Fables Vol. 3: The Bad Prince, by Bill Willingham
Thief of Time, by Terry Pratchett*
Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
Heart of Stone, by C.E. Murphy
Fables 10: The Good Prince, by Bill Willingham
The City of Dreaming Books, by Walter Moers
Shapechangers, by Jennifer Roberson*
Sword & Sorceress II, edited by Marion Zimmer Bradley
The Song of Homana, by Jennifer Roberson*
Iron Empires: Faith Conquers, by Christopher Moeller
Iron Empires: Sheva’s War, by Christopher Moeller
Anathem, by Neal Stephenson
Legacy of the Sword, by Jennifer Roberson*
An Evil Guest, by Gene Wolfe
Kushiel’s Mercy, by Jacqueline Carey
Mistborn, by Brandon Sanderson
Through Violet Eyes, by Stephen Woodworth
Moon Called, by Patricia Briggs
Blood Bound, by Patricia Briggs
Iron Kissed, by Patricia Briggs
House of Cards, by C.E. Murphy
Hands of Flame, by C.E. Murphy
Track of the White Wolf, by Jennifer Roberson*
A Pride of Princes, by Jennifer Roberson*
Daughter of the Lion, by Jennifer Roberson*
Flight of the Raven, by Jennifer Roberson*
A Tapestry of Lions, by Jennifer Roberson*

Hi we are multi published, multi genre best selling author AP Miller. We write scifi anime, erotica bdsm, horror, fantasy, paranormal, historical romance. YA, children;s picture books and GBLT.

I'm Mark. I'm a 28 year old PhD student (clinical neuropsychology), currently doing my residency year in London Ontario. Even though I'm insanely busy writing my dissertation, I've made it a goal to read one book per week for this entire year. I'm on track and about halfway done now.

I've read a fair bit of science fiction, although I haven't yet got around to reading some of the greats (shamefully, I have yet to read anything by Asimov or Clarke). I'm trying to read more of the SciFi cannon this year, but also trying to expand my horizons into other areas and genres that I haven't touched in the past, such as memoirs.

In terms of fantasy, I've read LOTR, Silmarilion, etc many times, I love the Dark Tower series by Stephen King, and have just recently read my first Terry Pratchett novel (Guards! Guards!). I've read other bits and pieces as well, but I definitely need to expand my range in this genre. So if anyone has suggestions for good fantasy novels, send me a message!

Hi Mark!

Have you tried to read RL Salvatore's Dark Elves series?

AP Miller

Wow, three days with no internet access and look what happens. Welcome to everyone!

THREE WHOLE DAYS!! How did you survive? LOL...

AP, why are you plural?

Jensownzoo wrote: "THREE WHOLE DAYS!! How did you survive? LOL...

AP, why are you plural?"

Why do you ask?

BunWat wrote: "Hey Sandi, welcome....back. :D
Jen, check the profile, AP is more than one person. "

Yes we are...we are a husband wife writing team...

Jensownzoo wrote: "THREE WHOLE DAYS!! How did you survive? LOL..."


I'm not really sure how I survived. I felt like I was going through withdrawals.

Hey Sandi,

Since I know you've read my novel, I invite you to come on over to the Fantasy Discussion Group in Feb. Griffin's Daughter is the reading selection of the month, and I will be leading the discussion and answering questions. The invitation of course, goes out to all interested members of this discussion group as well.

For anyone who decides they wish to participate and wants to buy, rather than borrow the book, I will send you a personalized, autographed copy for only $15 plus postage, which is cheaper than you can get it from Amazon. Contact me at [email protected] if interested.

Thanks for clearing that up BunWat and AP. And hey, you never know...this IS a Scifi/Fantasy group! I could be talking with an alien host, demon-possessed, or intergalactic emperor...all which could very well use plural pronouns! :D

Sandi--we're supposed to get ice storms tomorrow night. I sure hope the power doesn't go out or I will be in the same boat as you were!

Leslie wrote: "Hey Sandi,

Since I know you've read my novel, I invite you to come on over to the Fantasy Discussion Group in Feb. [b:Griffin's Daughter|1362888|Griffin's Daughter (Griffin's Daughter Trilogy)|L..."

I'm already a member over there, Leslie.

Jen, I hope the ice storms don't hit you too badly. It looked awful on the news this morning.

Hello!

My name is Vincent Lowry and I'm a new member. I live in Los Angeles, and I'm the author of a recently published sci-fi book called Constellation Chronicles (http://www.constellationchronicles.com-- as seen in Asimov's, Analog, and SF&F).

I joined this group because it had some great group discussions and a wide array of interesting and intelligent members.

I look forward to meeting everyone!

-Vince

My name is Kimberly and I love books, I have loved scifi and fantasy since childhood and I still love it today. I have read a wide range of books, I am sure that I have not listed all of them as of yet on this site.

I joined this group, seeking those of common interest, fun discussion and always looking for soemthing new to read

I'm a 23 year old young woman from waaaay upstate NY, though I'm living in Minnesota right now. Can't wait to move back in February!!! I'm an English major and I'm graduating this winter. I mostly read "serious literature," but I love good fantasy and sci fi, so I'm joining to get more suggestions so I can really get into some good books.
What fantasy and/or sci/fi have I read lately? Let me see, haven't had time for much...
Swan Song
Kushiel's Dart
The Bone Doll's Twin

I'm currently reading Liberation, and generally love dystopian/apocalyptic stuff.

Welcome Vincent, Kimberly, and Elizabeth! Elizabeth, I really liked Kushiel's Dart. I still have a few in the series to read, but the first book seemed to me to be the most powerful and interesting.

Sandi--looks like the storm wasn't quite as bad as they feared. I had to do a little pounding to get my back door open for the dogs this morning, but otherwise nothing to report. The bad stuff is now supposed to arrive on Thursday--a good time to be off work so I can cuddle up with some hot chocolate, a cat, and a good book!

Elizabeth wrote: "I'm a 23 year old young woman from waaaay upstate NY, though I'm living in Minnesota right now. Can't wait to move back in February!!!"

Hey, Elizabeth! What part of waaaay upstate NY are you from? I grew up in the Watertown area, a small town called Copenhagen. I live in Arizona now and most definitely do NOT miss the snow! ;-)

Yo, name is Matt. I was born in Poland but have lived in Brooklyn, NY for the past 20 years. I am 26 years old and i read books like a crackhead smokes rock. I enjoy all genres but my heart belongs to fantsy, scifi and horror. I am currently reading The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway

Hi! I'm Maija, a 26 year old girl (born '82) from Finland. I work as a graphic & Flash designer in Helsinki.

I love to read - I mostly read fantasy, especially modern fantasy. I seem to gravitate towards books that take place in our world, and my favorite authors include Neil Gaiman and Susanna Clarke, among others. I also like to read YA fantasy. One of my favorite books is Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.

The first fantasy books I read were the Dragonlance Chronicles, and I still maintain my love for Raistlin. When I was little my mother read me the Narnia books, so I started with fantasy pretty early. Science fiction is a bit alien (no pun intended) form of literature to me, I can't quite seem to get into it.

I joined this group because I wanted to find new fantasy authors. I thought this would be a good way to read one book a month that I might otherwise not pick up.

I'll see if I can manage to pop by the library today and loan His Majesty's Dragon to get started (I've read Neuromancer before). It appears that there's one copy on the shelf - it's the Finnish translation, so I'll be reading the book in Finnish, then. Usually I prefer to read my fantasy books in English, though, if it's the original language.

So, hi again to everyone!

Hi all. I am 37 years old, married, and an active duty Marine Corps Musician. I love reading, and have been known to have had to have my name called repeatedly when i get sucked into a book. I am still building my book list, this will take me some time as I tend to read just about anything I can get my hands on.

I am a huge scifi / fantasy reader and am always looking for new authors to read I welcome your suggestions.

Welcome to Rebecca, Carl, Maija, Matt, Elizabeth and Kinberly!

Leslie Ann

Hello everyone, I've been an avid reader of sci-fi and fantasy since I first read LOTR when I was 11. It's still my favourite book.
At the moment I'm separated from my books, they're in storage in New Zealand and I'm in snowy Vancouver, Canada. However I'm going home to the UK in february after 5 years and looking forward to going on a book buying splurge, as well as being reunited with my books.
Look forward to making new friends and getting suggestions.

Hi, there!
I'm a long-time lover of fantasy and a newly converted sci-fi fan from the Atlanta area. I actually have pretty eclectic taste in reading material. In addition to fantasy/sci-fi, I love a good historical fiction, magical realism (which I guess relates to my love of fantasy), cozy mysteries and the list could go on...
I work in marketing and events now (undergrad degree is in advertising), but I'm making a change in my life. I start library school (Masters of Library and Information Science) in January and hope to either work as a children/youth services librarian in a public library or as a media specialist in a school.
I'm looking forward to getting to know the group!

Some recently enjoyed fantasy/sci-fi reads:

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein - tied for the best book I've read this year. Blew me away!

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell - the other book tied for best this year

Dresden Files, books 1 to 5 - fell in love with this series and these five books got me through a stressful time a few months ago

The Book of Flying by Keith Miller

Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde

Towing Jehovah and Blameless in Abaddon by James Morrow

Discworld (first 2 books)

Hey everyone. My name is Lorenzo, I'm from Puerto Rico and about to turn 23. I have a bachelor's in political science (I love reading books on politics, philosophy, etc. every once in a while) but I also enjoy a good fantasy/sci-fi book. I normally lean more to the fantasy side, but I don't mind reading some sci-fi. My favorite author at the moment is Neil Gaiman, also enjoy Stephen King, Philip K. Dick and García Marquez among others.

Hopefully I'll be able to discover and enjoy new authors and books that I wouldn't have otherwise.

I actually joined a couple days ago, but have been pretty busy and forgot to introduce myself! :)

My name is Maigan, but I go by Silverstein, a nickname I ended up with thanks to five years of playing the worldwide MMO, Final Fantasy XI, under said name. Not that I'm complaining about it, of course. ;) I happen to love my nickname, although the question "Are you named Silverstein like after the band?" has gotten on my nerves over the years, as I actually don't like the band.

I have been a fan of fantasy and sci-fi for as long as I can remember. It started with the videogame equivalent, which would be RPGs, but when I turned nine, I really got into fantasy books, partly because I began to write my own fantasy series, which I'm still working on to this day in hopes of someday publishing it. As I grew older, I began to drift away from classic fantasy and sci-fi to urban fantasy, cyberpunk, and steampunk, but I still enjoy the occasional classic here and there. ;)

Currently I'm 19 and working on my first novel that I hope to publish. I have written several novels in the past, but only for fun, so this is the first time I've gotten really serious about it. I hope to finish my book in January and begin to solicit it. :)

Hey Maigan,
Congrats on the writing - when you get it done and are ready to start shopping it around - send me a message - I spent a lot of time getting my husband published and can give you some tips - if you want.

--
Wife of fantasy author: Michael J. Sullivan | The Crown Conspiracy | Avempartha
Reviews: Fantasy Book Critic | Odysssey | Amazon | MidWest Book Review | Huntress Reviews

Thanks for the offer, I'll keep that in mind. :) Very kind of you to offer help.

Hello,

Im TL James. Im a divorced 30+ yr old single parent. I am the GOODREADS author of The MPire Trilogy.

The MPire Trilogy—In Search of the Lost, Death Cometh, The Trinity—chronicles the life of the protagonist, financial guru, Mallory Haulm; his reluctant acceptance of his charge as Death, the forth horseman of the Apocalypse, collides Heaven and Earth. The journey takes you through family drama, corporate greed, scandals and epics wars older that Revelations.

www.authortljames.com

Maigan -- Are you named Silverstein like after the children's poet? ;D That's the first thing I thought of when I noted your nickname! Don't know of the band...

Bethany -- Haven't read either of your two favorites for this year...and two more books go into the TBR list!

Lorenzo -- Do you have a favorite Gaiman novel? I probably re-read Good Omens annually, but I also love his short stories.

T.L. -- You're going to have to give some more clues about what you like to read for me to comment more.

Jensownzoo wrote: "Maigan -- Are you named Silverstein like after the children's poet? ;D That's the first thing I thought of when I noted your nickname! Don't know of the band...

Actually, no. :) When I started playing Final Fantasy XI, I wanted to name my character Adamantian, but all 12 ways I spelled it were somehow taken, so I chose to name myself after a character in one of the books I'm writing, whose first name is Silverstein, because the character I chose looked a lot like my character. It just ended up sticking. X)

Jensownzoo- I absolutely love Good Omens and it is pretty high up there but my absolute favorite is American Gods. I think it is because of the mixture of Gaiman's fantastic storytelling and the use of mythology (especially Norse... among others). Also, the idea of personifying what would be considered gods by the contemporary world was something that really drew me in.

I also have Gaiman's books of short stories and enjoy them immensely. I especially like his version of Snow White "Snow, Glass, Apples" and "Chivalry"... I think both are in Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions.

Jensownzoo wrote: "Maigan -- Are you named Silverstein like after the children's poet? ;D That's the first thing I thought of when I noted your nickname!"

Me too!! - I loved "Uncle Shelby's ABZ book" - its a classic - as are many of his wonderful works.

-- Fantasy Series: The Crown Conspiracy (10/08) | Avempartha (04/09)

WOW...so many new people since I have posted...Welcome all!

Hi everyone, I'm new to goodreads and this group. Just joined yesterday =D
I'm a 25 year old girl from Portugal. I have a masters degree in Clinical Psychology and I've been in love with books since I can remenber.
I started reading Fantasy books around 14 with Marion Zimmer Bradley "Mists of Avalon" and then with Tolkien's "Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings".
I love all kinds of fantasy books (from UF to the classic "Sword and Sorcery"), sci-fi and horror.
Some of my favorite authors include Tolkien, Terry Pratchett , Neil Gaiman, Lovecraft and Stephen King among others..

I'm looking forward to participate in this group discussions!

Welcome. Maigan, T.L. and Maria.

Maigan, good luck to you with your writing. There's nothing more satisfying than getting one's work out there and having it well-received. It has been the greatest thrillride of my life so far.

Regards,

Leslie Ann
author of Griffin's Daughter

Oooh! Maria, I haven't read Mists of Avalon in quite a while...thanks for the reminder. I enjoyed it greatly when I was a teen too.

Lorenzo -- Gaiman first hooked me with the Sandman comics...I was tickled by all the mythological and such references in those. Then Smoke and Mirrors came out (and Chivalry is one of my favorite stories from it too!). And it just snowballed from there. I also really liked American Gods, but I was a little less impressed by the follow-up, Anansi Boys. Not completely UNimpressed, but not AS impressed.

And finally...

INVITATION

If you are a dreamer, come in,
If you are a dreamer, a wisher, and liar,
A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer...
If you're a pretender, come sit by my fire
For we have some flax-golden tales to spin.
Come in!
Come in!

--by Shel Silverstein

Hi, I'm 27 years old, from Middle-earth (aka New Zealand), and I love singing Karaoke, eating peanut butter and banana sandwiches/pizza, and reading Fantasy books... though not all at the same time.

My fave authors are David Gemmell and Orson Scott-Card. I'm only just learning to branch out now.

Merry Xmas
and peace for 09!