Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

New members, Welcome to the SF&HF Group!

If you have the time, please use this topic to introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your tastes in fantasy and science fiction.

Welcome to the Science Fiction and Heroic Fantasy Group!

We are a group sharing an interest in science fiction and fantasy books, though we don't limit conversations to just books.

We have a number of General SF&F Topics under discussion.

Also, over the course of each month we select three works of science fiction or fantasy for more detailed discussion. (One classical science fiction or fantasy novel, one contemporary SF/F novel, and one short story, novella, or anthology of SF/F.) You'll find all our past discussions in our Book Discussions folder. Those are never closed, so feel free to add your opinions anytime!

The Recommendations Folder has member recommendations based on specific sub-genre topics, and our Award Folder has some information on award-nominated and award-winning sci-fi and fantasy for the last couple of years.

The Just for Fun folder is for discussing topics not specifically related to science fiction or fantasy.

Members who are also authors of science fiction and fantasy are invited to promote their work in our our Promotions folder.

And we have several other Folders which hopefully explain themselves!

Welcome to the group!

Hi Danielle and Charlie,welcome to the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

I post again my introduction since I didn't send it at the right place first. Probably a quantum leap. :(

Hello! As many members here, I am a S-F writer. But, contrarily to all the others, I write in French. I'd like to be better at English speaking and writing because there are more people reading S-F in this language.
I am Canadian (Quebec). I worked for years at the Canadian National Research Council. Now that I am a retiree, I have a little more time to write and read.
I don't aim at creating a realistic future. If the technology changes, I know that people of the past were not so different from us. So, I believe that people of the future will be very much like us, at least in their mind and heart. And for the technology, those who tell you that they know what it will be in a far future are liars. But I like to read their lies if they are convincing. ;)
I remember when I was a teenager, I attended a conference where a researcher said that in a near future everyone would have at least one computer at home and it would be more powerful than anything that existed at that time. People in the conference room booed because they thought it was impossible. Now all iPods, iPads,... have more memory and processing power than the supercomputers of that time.
A young man also spoke of his fears of a conflict between humans and robots. The people in the audience applauded. I thought: "You read too much science fiction, boy!" ;)

I hope that I am not the only French speaker in this group.

Danielle wrote: "Hello! As many members here, I am a S-F writer. But, contrarily to all the others, I write in French. I'd like to be better at English speaking and writing because there are more people reading S-F..."


Hello, Danielle. Welcome to the group. I hope you're able to join in our discussions here. It's always good to hear a new perspective. And I'm retired as well, so we can reminisce about the good old days.

We do have a couple of French-Canadian members.

I'm pretty sure the future war with robots is inevitable, and they are sure to win. (Maybe they already have and just keep us around for entertainment.)

It's deja vu all over again. (Must be a glitch in the Matrix. :)

G33z3r wrote: "Maybe they already have and just keep us around for entertainment..."

lolll

Maybe we are all in the matrix without knowing it.

Hi! I'm new to the group! I'm an obsessive reader and Sci Fi and Fantasy are probably my two fav genres. Looking forward to reading and discussing books with other fans!

Vanessa wrote: "Hi! I'm new to the group! I'm an obsessive reader and Sci Fi and Fantasy are probably my two fav genres. Looking forward to reading and discussing books with other fans!"

Hi, Vanessa, and welcome to the group. Glad you stopped in. I think you've already found some of our discussion folders, so please continue to jump right in. If we're not talking about something that interests you, start a topic that does! We've also got a couple of book discussions that are currently active, and a whole discussions folder full of past discussions that are still open for new thoughts.

Also check out our process for nominating and voting for specific books to discuss in the future. I hope you enjoy your visits here.

Hi Vanessa,welcome to the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

Hi everyone,
I have never joined a group before now. I looked around in GR and found that the list of books in your group fit me pretty well. So here I am.
My name is Michel (male). I am from Canada, Quebec (Bonjour Danielle) and French speaking (bilingual French-English actually).
I am over 55 (this number is bad nuff without the actual age, ty very much). I was forced retired but not complaining one bit. (Although my wife may have another opinion...)
I read SF and Fantasy since I am 12, so I read plenty. I have not finished entering the list in my GR inventory - far from it - but it would be some kind of an indicator.
I really look forward to go through all the details and recommendations of this group. We have lots in common and I may have some suggestions of my own down the line.
Michel

Michel wrote: "Hi everyone, I have never joined a group before now. I looked around in GR and found that the list of books in your group fit me pretty well. So here I am...."

Hi, Michel. Welcome to the group. We appreciate you dropping in.

Like you, I'm looking at 55 in the rearview mirror from retirement and not regretting it in the least. I have a lot more time for both reading and hiking now that the distraction of working every day has been removed!

I think I have the complete content of my science fiction/fantasy bookshelf entered into Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ by now, missing only whatever I read when borrowing. SF/F is far and away the genre I read for pleasure these days. I noticed you entered a number of Heinlein, Asimov and Vance already (and Simak! I loved his books back in the day.)

I hope if you look around you'll find some discussion topics you'd like to comment on, or perhaps add something to one of our older discussions in our Book Discussions folder, or perhaps nominate something for future discussion. Don't hesitate to start a new topic if you like.

And again, welcome!

Hi Michel,welcome to the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

Michel wrote: "Hi everyone,
I have never joined a group before now. I looked around in GR and found that the list of books in your group fit me pretty well. So here I am.
My name is Michel (male). I am from Canad..."

Bonjour Michel! Tu sembles pas mal meilleur en anglais que moi. Tu dis être de Québec ou du Québec? S'il ne s'agit pas de la ville, de quel coin de la belle province es-tu?

J'ai lu énormément de science-fiction dans ma jeunesse. J'en lis un peu moins maintenant, mais j'aime bien en écrire.

Je suis heureuse de ne pas être la seule Québécoise sur GoodReads et dans ce groupe.

Bienvenue à toi!

i took French in high school and i still dont understand it....

Spooky1947 wrote: "i took French in high school and i still dont understand it...."

Foreign language at high school is not enough to really understand something. If you want to improve your knowledge, read in French. If you read eBook in French in Kindle, you just have to click on a word you don't know and a French dictionary will open to give you the meaning. Sometimes, there is also the pronunciation in phonetic alphabet. That's how I learned English (plus conversational meetings to improve my accent).

Anyway, it's better that you took French courses in high school than nothing. Most English speakers don't care about foreign languages. They think that they could speak English everywhere on Earth and they'll be understood. That's true in big hotels, but not always on the streets.

truth to tell, i didnt take French by my own choice...it was forced on me. i was the only kid in high school that was both gifted and learning-disabled (i read and comprended at 2ed year collage level, yet spelled on only a 6th grade level...gave them fits i did). as gifted, i was forced to take French. We were given a "French" spelling test each week, and of course i failed them all (i couldn't spell in my native language for Ghod's sake). Worse, i never once saw a pronucation guide for French, and thus had no idea how the words were spoken...if i had a French dictionary i maybe could have tought myself to read French (maybe)...but there was nothing i wanted to read in French, so who cared? now if it had been a German class, i would have at least lerned to read the language so i could get deeper into the Perry Rhodan series (beyond what 4e gave us anyway)...if this all sounds strange, consider this -- i lived in a very small town of 2k people...our "school" was more of a baby-sitting service than a place to actualy go and learn. I gave up on it about 8th grade and spent my time trying to educate myself with second-hand collage texts and the like...as a result my "education" is very spotty

anyway, point being, i am happy with "just" English, even if i can't spell it...i dont travel. My brother, on the other hand loves traveling in China...even tought himself the language, no classes...but then, he and my sister always were the bright ones...

Hey Danielle, Spook.

Spook: i would not worry too much about school. Education and intelligence are 2 separate things. I'm glad to have you around.
Danielle: Je demeure a Laval depuis quelques annees. Merci pour l'acceuil. Tu dis que tu ecris? Est-ce possible de mettre la main sur un de tes ecrits?
I am writting this post on my kobo, so i am keeping this very short. I'll use my comp next time and it will be better... I swear :)

Hello, I'm Jerilyn. This is my first group to join on GR, and being a devoted fan of Tolkien, Bradbury and Harry Potter, this seemed to be a good fit for me. I am definitely more into the fantasy side of the genre, but appreciate a good sci-fy book as well. I'm excited to dive in to some of these recommendations!

Hi, my name is Barbara. I have been reading to much romance books lately and I want to go back to my fantasy roots. Authors I love: David Gemmel, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Frank Herbert, Scott Bakker, Lois McMaster Bujold, Ann Aguirre.
Currently I am reading some Raymond Feist.
I joined this group to get some recommendations, because I am sadly out of date what is currently going on in fantasy and sci-fi.

Jerilyn wrote: "Hello, I'm Jerilyn. This is my first group to join on GR, and being a devoted fan of Tolkien, Bradbury and Harry Potter, this seemed to be a good fit for me. I am definitely more into the fantasy..."

Hi, Jerilyn. Welcome to the group, and Groupdom in general. (Will be on our best behavior to be a positive representative!) I hope you'll find it in entertaining and informative place to exchange book suggestions, thoughts on past books you read, and just plain rant at each other the way SF&F fans do when they get together. I know you'll find other fans of Middle Earth and Hogwarts here, and also the many worlds of Ray Bradbury. Please join into any of our discussions that strike your fancy, or start a new one if you like.

Barbara wrote: "Hi, my name is Barbara. I have been reading to much romance books lately and I want to go back to my fantasy roots. Authors I love: David Gemmel, Marion Zimmer Bradley, Frank Herbert, Scott Bakker,..."

Hi, Barbara and a warm welcome to the group. I hope you'll find this a good place to both give and get recommendations for books you might enjoy. I'm a fan of Bradley, Herbert, and Bujold myself. (Not so much Aguirre.) I'm waaay behind on reading Feist's recent Riftwar books. I have to confess I haven't read any Gemmell. Maybe you can suggest a good first book for me to try? I look forward to seeing your comments in our discussion threads.

G33z3r wrote: "...Maybe you can suggest a good first book for me to try? ..."
Try "Legend". The paperback I have is nearly falling apart. I think I read it at least once a year ;-).

Barbara wrote: "Try "Legend". The paperback I have is nearly falling apart. I think I read it at least once a year ;-)."


Legend it'll be, then. Thanks.

G33z3r wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Try "Legend". The paperback I have is nearly falling apart. I think I read it at least once a year ;-)."


Legend it'll be, then. Thanks."

I personally thought the book itself is fairly average, but Druss the Legend is one of the best character in all fantasy books. He alone makes reading worth it.

Hi everyone. I'm 17 years old. I Love reading sci-fi, mystery, fantasy, classics, thrillers, YA and some times books with vampires and stuff like Department 19. Really good.
And also i am a movie critic. Not officially but hope to be one someday.I love watching movies. Not just any kind ... all kinds from Oscar winners to the cult classics. I have watched so many movies that I could Tell you if a movie would be good or bad by just watching the trailer and sometimes the posters. And mostly I am right. Not boasting here. I love the works of H.G. Wells, J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, Andy McDermott and many more. And I love rock music. Green Day, 30 seconds to Mars, Muse, Linkin Park, My Chemical Romance being some of my favorite bands.

Adel wrote: "Hi everyone. I'm 17 years old. I Love reading sci-fi, mystery, fantasy, classics, thrillers, YA and some times books with vampires and stuff like Department 19. Really good...."

Hi, Adel. Welcome to the group. I hope you'll join us for some interesting discussions here. If you want to talk old movies, I'm certainly equipped for that (though we may have slightly different definitions of "old" :). At least I recognized every artist you mentioned, until you got to the rock bands. Elvis, the Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan, Moody blues. Welcome aboard.

Hi Jerilyn,Barbara and Adel,welcome to the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.
Although Adel when it comes to music I have to agree with G33z3r.

Hi to all the new Peeps....drag up a chair, and just ask Jarvis ( our butler) for a glass of sweat tea and smoke 'em if ya gots 'em

:)

I'll drink to that(sweet tea).

Hello everyone, I'm Brandon. I really like fantasy which is more on the thought-provoking and explorative side than black-and-white types in which sides are clear and the only question is when do the good guys win (although I loved Lord of the Rings, just not many others like it). R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series (and the next two series which I have yet to see in full), Game of Thones, and so on. In terms of sci-fi I like space exploration more than time travel, and specifically I love things with politics and/or science applied to space colonization. Also Phillip K. Dick.

Hi Brandon,welcome to the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

Brandon wrote: "Hello everyone, I'm Brandon. I really like fantasy which is more on the thought-provoking and explorative side than black-and-white types in which sides are clear..."

Hi, Bandon, and welcome to both Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and the group. I hope you'll jump into any conversations that strike your fancy. I'm sure you'll find plenty of fans of P.K. Dick, fantasy, and space exploration.

Have you read KSR's Red Mars trilogy? Sounds like it's right in your wheelhouse with space colonization and politics.

I haven't, but I'd love to give it a read. Thanks, guys!

Hello! My name is Niki. I'm very new to Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and don't have everything set up yet, but I enjoy all types of fantasy. My sister recently got me the first four books in A Song of Ice and Fire, which I'm looking forward to reading. I also like it when sci-fi and fantasy are combined, but I don't know too many books like that.

It's nice to meet you all!

Niki wrote: "Hello! My name is Niki. I'm very new to Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ and don't have everything set up yet, but I enjoy all types of fantasy. My sister recently got me the first four books in A Song of Ice and Fire, ... I also like it when sci-fi and fantasy are combined, but I don't know too many books like that."

Hi, Niki, and welcome to both Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ in the group. I hope you find both entertaining and enlightening.

When people talk about blending Science Fiction with Fantasy, I usually suggest Dune. Then all the Herbert fans get mad at me. Another possibility is Perdido Street Station & sequels by China Miéville, which is definitely a unique fantasy/sci-fi universe, and Charles Stross's The Atrocity Archives, which fuses supernatural/horror elements from Cthulhu into science fiction.

By the way, once you get set up, please drop into our Promotions folder and tell us something about your book. (Does that cover indicate an anime influence?)

And again, welcome to the group!

G33z3r wrote: Hi, Niki, and welcome to both Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ in the group. I hope you find both entertaining and enlightening.

When people talk about blending Science Fiction with Fantasy, I usually suggest Dune. Then all the Herbert fans get mad at me. Another possibility is Perdido Street Station & sequels by China Miéville, which is definitely a unique fantasy/sci-fi universe, and Charles Stross's The Atrocity Archives, which fuses supernatural/horror elements from Cthulhu into science fiction.

By the way, once you get set up, please drop into our Promotions folder and tell us something about your book. (Does that cover indicate an anime influence?)

And again, welcome to the group!

Thank you! I'll have to check those out.

Okay, I'll go there; thank you again! And it does. I watch anime/read manga and play video games, too.

Hi Niki,welcome to the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

Charles Stross...Case Nightmare Green!!!!

Hello everyone. My name is Joshua Harkin and I'm new to goodreads. I am an aspiring writer and a big fan of sci-fi novels and the various sub genres. I recently finished Hugh Howey's Shift. It was an amazing read and I'm excited to read the third book in the Wool series, Dust.

I have just recently put my first novel up on kindle titled The Bastion. I put a post up in the promotions section about it. http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1...

I'm looking forward to getting involved on goodreads and the sci-fi groups in particular.

Cheers

Hi:

I'm skribe. I read a fairly broad range of SF/F. Everything from Heinlein. Brin, Banks and Stross to Tolkien, Zelazny, Eddings, Weis and Hickman. Although, I have to say I haven't seen much fantasy that has interested me much of late.

I am currently reading House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds.

Cheers.

Joshua wrote: "Hello everyone. My name is Joshua Harkin and I'm new to goodreads. I am an aspiring writer and a big fan of sci-fi novels and the various sub genres. I recently finished Hugh Howey's Shift...."

Hi, Joshua. Welcome to both Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ in this group! I hope you'll join us for some interesting discussions. We just talked about Wool as our designated Contemporary Novel Discussion two months ago (May). Join in if you'd like, we don't close past discussions. I see you already found our Promotions folder. Best of luck with the book!

skribe wrote: "Hi: I'm skribe. I read a fairly broad range of SF/F. Everything from Heinlein. Brin, Banks and Stross to Tolkien, Zelazny, Eddings, Weis and Hickman. Although, I have to say I haven't seen much..."

Welcome to the group, skribe. I'm pretty sure we have fans of just about every one of the authors you mentioned here. I see you already found are recent discussion of Zelazny's Amber (I'll get back to that after my second cup of coffee). There's also a recent discussion of Weis and Hickman first book, Dragons of Autumn Twilight. I hope you'll find other discussions that interest you, too, or just start a few conversations of your own! Welcome aboard.

G33z3r wrote: "I'll get back to that after my second cup of coffee"

No hurry, mate. Enjoy your coffee in peace. I'm logging off for the night. Nice to meet you.

Cheers.

Recently joined the group. Have read some discussions and think I've found some kindred spirits. Just finished The Wheel of Time. Starting Ready Player One.

Adam wrote: "Recently joined the group. Have read some discussions and think I've found some kindred spirits. Just finished The Wheel of Time. Starting Ready Player One."

Hi, Adam. Welcome. I look forward to your comments on Ready Player One. There's also a past discussion of A Memory of Light I started earlier this year. To say I was impatient for that final volume is an understatement! Welcome aboard.

Hi Joshua,welcome to the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

Hi Skribe,welcome to the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

Hi Adam,welcome to the Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy group.

Thanks everyone.