Fantasy Book Club discussion

Welcome to the Fantasy Book Club! Introduce yourself and tell us a little about yourself. Where do you hail from? Who are your favorite Fantasy writers? Favorite Series?

I'm next.

I joined the group because I saw some of my GR friends kept posting and getting updates, so I checked it out and found it to be a congenial spot.

I've been reading fantasy (and SF) ever since I, all unknowing, bought The Two Towers around the age of 10. It took me a while to realize I was reading book two but once I had that figured out and got book one, I was hopelessly addicted.

An incomplete list of my favorite (fantasy) authors, in no particular order, would include:

J.R.R. Tolkien
Ursula Le Guin
Steven Erikson
James Branch Cabell
A.A. Attanasio
R. Scott Bakker
Jacqueline Carey
Jack Vance
Glen Cook
Tad Williams

I guess it would be rude not to introduce myself since I started this thread! I currently live in the San Francisco bay area of California but have spent a lifetime of living all over. Born in Missouri, raised in Kansas, and have lived in Yorkshire (England), Ireland, Brazil, San Diego, and New York.

I've been reading Fantasy ever since the 4th grade (and if you know my age, thats a really long time!) when a teacher suggested Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. My favorite authors include J.R.R. Tolkien, Jacqueline Carey, Robert Jordan, Diana Gabaldon, George R.R. Martin, C.L. Wilson, and O.R. Melling. I'm sure there are more I will be adding to this list as I learn of them here in this group.

My fantasy reading is all over since I enjoy a wide variety ranging from fairy to epic to romance to dragons to vampires to wizards and the list goes on and on. Suffice to say, I enjoy reading stories that I can escape into and don't resemble reality. I'm looking forward to increasing my ever-growing "To Read" queue through finding out what books you all find interesting and entertaining.

I am from Queensland, Australia. The first book i ever read was Robinson Crusoe and enjoyed that adventure tale very much without realizing it was considered as the first novel in English. Then as i got into Ian Fleming and read all of the James Bond novels and liked how i could enjoy the story of the same character in a series of novels. Then a friend who recently arrived from Italy was reading Galaxy Magazine in italian which had a different SF novel each month, so I was then keen to read SF and tried to get the same novel he was reading. For most of the 70's i continued reading SF and read nearly all of Issac Asimov novels and liked how he made them interlink as a story. Then i got into Autobiographies and Crime and all sorts of different genres.

I noticed friends were reading fantasy novels and intended to read the The Lord of the Rings to try out this genre but only managed to read The Hobbit. Whilst visiting the USA a girlfriend suggested i should try Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which was only recently released, but i gave it a miss as its cover seemed much like a book for school children. I became a editor on Wikipedia and was doing summaries on Australian authors and found many were writing Fantasy, so i decided to read Ian Irvine and liked the adventure and settings in the stories. Then reading all of the Harry Potter novels, as was curious as to why they were so popular. After that i then came to Good Reads to find out what other fantasy novels people were enjoying. I have only just started on reading the Lord of the Rings.

Maybe thats now why i am into fantasy as i enjoy reading a series of novels that expand on the same world, with the same charcters within a adventure.

My name is Jane. I'm a computer programmer by day and avid reader by night. My favorites have always been fantasy, thoguh as of late I'm getting tired of "the same old stuff". I like series more than stand alone novels but sometimes they just go on too long - Like Wheel of Time etc.

BLASPHEMY!!!! Lol!

My Name is Robert, and I'm a Fantasy-holic (Hi Robert!), lol! I live in Columbus Ohio, where I live with my wife and program CNC machines.

Back when I was in the 4th grade, I complained to my parents that there were no more books left in the house to read. I mean, theres only so many times you can read "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and "I was so Mad" before you realize they really aren't for you anymore. My father (an avid Sci-Fi reader) responds "The hell there's nothing to read!" Next day I find a large book of sci-fi and fantasy from the 60's and 70's in my room, and one week later I had read all the way up through God Emperor of Dune. It's been a downward spiral ever since, lol!

As I grew older I became more and more intrigued by Fantasy than Sci-fi, though I still do enjoy my space opera from time to time. My favorite books are currently:

Wheel of Time
Mistborn
Deathgate Cycle
Dune Saga

Favorite authors include:

Robert Jordan
Frank Herbert
R.A. Salvatore

Hello,
I'm new to good reads and to the group. I've read a lot and have no intention of cataloging what I've read in the past - it would take forever LOL - but I will be updating my new reads. The Fantasy stuff I have on my TBR at the moment (in no particular order)


The Crown Conspiracy
Assasin's Apprentice
DragonSpell
Dragons of Autum Twilight

Hi. I'm new here; I'm from New England (Rhode Island at the moment), and I've been reading fantasy and science fiction since I was a kid.

I've been a panelist on the literary track at the Arisia convention in Boston for many years. My speciality (such as it is) is older genre fiction, with a particular emphasis on genre fiction for children. I will admit to an old-fashioned dislike for most modern fantasy writers.

The Lord of the Rings was the first major work of fantasy I read as a teenager, and I've read it dozens of times since then - so often that I've practically memorized it, which made the differences between it and the movies really stick in my craw.

Here are a few more of my favorite fantasy books and authors:

Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was
Roger Zelazny (particularly Lord of Light)
The Incredible Umbrella
The Amorous Umbrella
Robert Arthur
Lawrence Watt-Evans
Cordwainer Smith (arguably not fantasy, but so unique that I really don't care)
Steven Brust
Kim (certainly not fantasy or science fiction, but the setting of colonial India is so exotic and the novel is so incredibly well-written that I still recommend it to any fantasy reader)
Alan Moore
Neil Gaiman
Lord Dunsany
Lloyd Alexander

I'm sure I've forgotten some that I'd like to list, but this is as many of my favorites as I can remember for now.

Hi Peter and welcome!
What is the Arisia Convention? I just finished doing the Los Angeles Science Fiction/Fantasy Con (LosCon), where I got to be on 6 panels throughout the week-end. I really enjoy doing LosCon and I hope to get invited to some other cons in the future.

Two of my favorite fantasy authors are Terry Brooks and Kate Elliot, both contemporary, but of course, I've also re-read LOTR several times during my life. I also love C.J. Cherryh, both her fantasy and sci-fi works.

Wow. I just wrote a long response, and GoodReads lost it with "There was a problem saving your comment". It can't be recovered. My opinion of this site just went WAY down.

I hate trying to re-create long posts, so this is the extremely abbreviated version:

Thanks Leslie. Arisia's in Boston, MA, next month. It's a nice medium-sized con; I like it. Haven't read Brooks or Elliot, considered reading Cherryh. Care to recommend a book to start with?

Peter,

While I'm usually not a huge fan of Cherryh's fantasy work, I did (and do enjoy) the Morgaine saga, where you might start: Gate of Ivrel, Well of Shiuan and Fires of Azeroth. It's borderline, since there's some SF elements in it.

I fear I can't share Leslie's enthusiasm for Brooks or Elliot but I don't know what you "like" so you can't go wrong checking out some of their stuff as well.

Terence, thanks for the recommendations. I'm fine with SF elements; Zelazny's Lord of Light is one of my favorite books, for example.

I'm pretty old-fashioned and have a rather towering dislike for what I consider to be the sloppy, derivative, and simply bad writing that gets published these days. Brooks lost me for good when The Sword of Shannara came out; a group I used to hang out with at the time used to pass around a humorously-annotated copy of the book, documenting all the ways that he'd (poorly) ripped off Tolkien. I wish I still had a copy of those annotations, because they were very funny!

There aren't too many "new" fantasy & SF writers that I admire. Steven Brust is one. Lawrence Watt-Evans is another, although his editors have apparently been pushing him to write dark and massive Robert Jordan-like multi-volume series featuring less-intelligent protagonists and little humor. Fortunately he was able to get his clever and funny light-fantasy Ethshar series back into gear as well, despite an attempt by his publishers to kill it.

I also like much of the work of David Brin, although of course only one of his novels borders on actual fantasy: The Practice Effect, and it definitely includes strong SF elements.

There are a number of other fantasy & SF authors whose work I enjoy, some of whom are still publishing (although most of them have died or stopped writing), but since they have all been publishing since at least the 1960s I don't consider them to be "new" writers.

There have also been a few "new" writers whose work I admire very much - Barry Hughart, for example - but they have either stopped writing or were forced, like Hughart, to quit out of frustration with the current state of the publishing industry.

I will admit that I've read all the Harry Potter books, and found them workmanlike but not at all inspired; they're very derivative, and seem to be more a matter of clever marketing and viral success than anything else.

You could call me the Cranky Old Man of genre fiction. :D

Whoops, I neglected to mention Terry Pratchett! He's good. Ironically, I refused to read him for years because I kept mixing him up with Terry Brooks. When I finally happened to see the movie of Hogfather, I was impressed enough to search out the book - and since then, I've read another ten or so of his books. They weren't all my cup of tea, but overall they were enjoyable and well written.

Oh, if we're to include comic books and graphic novels I would also list Neil Gaimain and Alan Moore as "new" writers that I admire. Particularly Moore.

Peter,

I know what you mean about Brooks. I read The Sword of Shannara when I was 12 or 13; and I followed the series out of some sado-masochistic hope that it would improve but I've given up on it entirely now.

He's not new but another recommendation is Jack Vance. A few of the newer authors I'd recommend include:

Jeffrey Barlough, Dark Sleeper and The House in the High Wood (think Dickens meets H.P. Lovecraft).

Joe Abercrombie, The Blade Itself and following books. The more I consider his novels, the more annoyed I become with them so I'm not sure if he'll become a favored author but we'll see.

Brian Ruckley, Winterbirth and Bloodheir

R. Scott Bakker

Jacqueline Carey, in particular her Terre D'Ange novels; her Sundering novels just don't reach the same level of passion that Kushiel's Legacy does.

And, though you intimated that you weren't a fan of large-scale epics along the lines of Martin or Jordan, I have to give a shout out to Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen. Start with the first book - Gardens of the Moon.

But this really isn't the book recommendation thread!!

The rest of you out there should speak up and introduce yourselves; stop lurking in the shadows like Gollum under the mountain :-)

Terence, your experience with the Shannara series sounds like mine with the Left Behind series - although I don't know if everyone would consider that to be fantasy (I did, though).

I'm definitely familiar with Jack Vance; I have quite a few of his books. In fact, I was remotely connected with a project that was going to adapt his Lyonesse into a role-playing game. But that fell through.

Thanks for all the other recommendations! And since I'm new here, I hope I can ask a question: what other groups are good here at Goodreads?

Hello!

I am new to this website and am finding all of these great groups. I am from Texas. I found Fantasy in middle school though Madeline L'Engle. I never read much up to this point but I could not put books down after I found ones I liked.

My current favorite authors are:
Anne Bishop
Maria V. Snyder
Michelle Sagara
Tolkien
and many more!

Hi, I'm Michele and I am from Maine. I'm a mom, a math teacher, but primarily, a reader. I have been reading fantasy since 3rd or 4th grade too--Madeleine L'Engle, Robert Cormier (I say he counts!), Dogsbody, C.S. Lewis, Duncton Wood, and oh, the deliciousness of Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising Series (I still read it over every Christmas or two.)

I do occassionally go through a same old thing trough, but there's always good new ones. My favorites echo most closely Elizabeth, who went first, but I like a lot of what others suggested. Currently (and there's a little sci-fi mixed in too cause I don't always bother to tell the difference)

Terry Pratchett (I love that guy...)
Robin McKinley
Patricia McKillip
John Scalzi
Brandon Sanderson
Diane Wynne Jones
Jim Butcher
Simon Green
Elizabeth Moon (I loved the Deed of Paksenarion as well as every bit of space stuff I can get--Kylara Vatta, Esme Suiza, Heris Serano)
Naomi Novik
Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind
LeGuin
Neil Gaiman
Rick Riordan (the Lightning Theif etc.)
Neal Stephenson

I love Harry Potter and Charlie Bone and Inkheart and The Book of Lost Things and the Windsinger. Holly Black and Holly Lisle and Kelly Eskridge and Nicola Griffiths.

One offs that I loved that I reread once in a while include Tam Lin by Pamela Dean and A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb. I really like George R.R. Martin and my high school boys (I teach h.s. math) have thrust Terry Goodkind on me (that's the Wizard's First Rule guy right?) and I enjoyed it. I'm listening to Brisingr and am plugging away but certain not wowed. I have a soft spot for Emma Bull and Charles de Lint and Ellen Kushner (Swordpoint!). And Phillip Pullman!

Oooh,I should stop. Thanks for all the good recommendations. Gotta go read now...
Michele

Good to know about Pamela Dean's other books. This reminds me. My all time favorite retelling of a fairy tale is Fire and Hemlock by Diane Wynne Jones. It was out of print for a while but is easily available now and it is based on Tam Lin too. I love it.

I also forgot Lois. How can I express how much I love Lois McMaster Bujold, Miles Vorgosigan (from her sci bi books), and Ista and Lord Dy Cazaril from her fantasy novels about Challion. Mmmm...Lois.

George R.R.'s big series is the Ice and Fire series and I started at the beginning. I haven't finished them all myself, yet, but it is really wonderful to know you have big fat epics waiting for you isn't it?

Worm Ouroboros here I come. I need to go to the bookstore tonight to get a gift. I'll ask about it then. Thanks for your wonderful recommendations.

Michele

Ah! you've lit on two of my favorites,Diana Wynne Jones and George R.R. Martin. I loved Jones' The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, Volume 1: Charmed Life / The Lives of Christopher Chant and Howl's Moving Castle. I'll even go so far as to say the animated film of the latter is one of my favorites in spite of the fact that it strays from the book a great deal, I liked what the director did with it.

As far as Martin, definitely start with A Game of Thrones I've read all four books he's written in the series so far and am completely hooked. Just don't mistake the misogyny of his fantasy world with him. I've met both he and his wife Parris and have not known a man who is more respectful and loving towards his woman. (Can you tell I got into a bit of a row in another group over this?) If there is one thing that annoys me more than anything else, it is people who seem to think that just because a writer writes about something, they believe it. What does this thinking say about Stephen King?? LOL! In any case, I'm anxiously awaiting book 5 of Martin's series which is seeming to take forever!

Hello all. My name is Rachel. I'm a 31 year old software tester from Austin, Tx. While I do try to mix in some non-fantasy, the majority of my reads are from the fantasy genre.

My favorite series is Wheel of Time. I don't look at it as a lot of really big books that just keep going. I kind of feel like it's my type of soap opera. And I love to listen to them in audiobook form while working.

I also love the Sword of Truth series. Same reason I love the Wheel of Time.

I love Star Wars books (am I evil because they're sci-fi?). And historical fiction, random..I know.

Hello! I'm Becky... I followed a link here from the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club group, and since I read more fantasy than sci-fi, I figured I'd join the fantasy clan and round out my group count at an even 10. ;)

I love Lord of the Rings, the Harry Potter series, the Dark Tower series, and the Inheritance books by Paolini- although some of the reviews that I have read for these make out that enjoying them makes me a terrible fantasy fan. (I have no shame though, so I'm ok with that.) I'm currently reading and enjoying the 3rd installment, Brisingr.

There is a ton of fantasy out there that I have yet to try, mainly due to my habit of book-cover judging. Hopefully, I will pick up some great recommendations here and mend my ways! :)

Welcome to our group Becky ! No matter what reviewers say about a author or his/hers books, its really up to the reader who may enjoy to read them. No one has the same tastes so what some may like others may not. I like how you stated you had no shame on what you read and enjoy, regardless of reviews. Hope we can help mend your ways on the book cover judging :)

Greetings, all. I am Marc Vun Kannon. a fantasy reader and author from Wading River, on Long Island NY. I've been reading fantasy forever, my father was an Oz book fanatic. I became an author amny years back when my novel ideas started attacking me, beginning with The Flame in the Bowl: Unbinding the Stone and A Warrior Made. Lately I've been making a lot of short stories, although I have finished a third novel recently and am currently working on the sequel to A Warrior Made. My favorite novels include The Misenchanted Sword and many others by Watt-Evans, The Thread That Binds the Bones, The Curse of Chalion and many others by Bujold. Of course I have hundreds more, who doesn't, including the RiddleMaster of Hed series by McKillip and the Knight of the Word series by Brooks.

Thanks JJ...
I don't really concern myself with whether other people enjoy books that I know I already do. I read what I enjoy and that's it- no book snobbery here! Although, finding new books is the challenge, due to my habit of cover-judging. I'll try my best!
;)

Great to have you with us Marc. Its good to have published authors in our group, now Leslie wont feel so alone. Maybe eventually we will have one of your books as a reading for the month if enough members are interested.

I'm Josh from Seattle. I've been reading fantasy and sci-fi for as long as I've been reading, and I dabble in writing it a little. I've probably read more fantasy than sci-fi, but I go in shifts. For several months I'll read fantasy and then alternate. Right now I'm in fantasy mode.

Favorite series of all time is A Song of Ice and Fire. I've read each book at least 3 times (with exception of the newest) and I can't get enough of them. George R.R. Martin is hands down my favorite author.

Overall, I'm truly a fan of the type of modern fantasy that I believe Martin pioneered. That meaning less traditional fantasy that doesn't follow most of the familiar archetypes and focuses more on intrigue, politics and war. But I do enjoy the more traditional adventure type fantasy as well, if it's not too cliched.

Other favorite fantasy authors:
Robin Hobb: (she is a master of character development. If her books had no action in them, I'd still be glued to the pages simply because of the amazing character drama.)
Scott Lynch: (found him on recommendation from Martin himself, and he is on par with Martin. The Lies of Locke Lamora is one of my new favorite novels. Read it!)
Joe Abercrombie: (I'm currently reading his second book, and so far I love his writing and non traditional approach to fantasy. Epic, brutal and with a good sense of humor.)
Daniel Abraham: (He has a very eloquent style and his works are really unique.)
Robert Jordan: (While the latter books of Wheel of Time keep me from enjoying the series as much as when I started it, it's still an amazing and truly epic series. I look forward to Sanderson's conclusion.)

Favorite Sci-fi:
Frank Herbert
Dan Simmons
Davif Brin
Robert Charles Wilson
John Scalzi

Hello!

I'm Eric, from the Minneapolis metro in Minnesota. I have been a fan of fantasy and science fiction since my father got me interested in The Hobbit when I was a wee tot.

I have gone through several "phases" of fantasy reading. My current kick seems to be a combination of urban fantasy/horror, and complicated, dense works a la Gene Wolfe.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you, and learning about some new books I haven't yet read.

I love Sci-Fi and Fantasy and have been a voracious reader since my mom taught me to read when I was 5. I have an entire bookshelf of favorites that I reread a couple times a year, but am always on the lookout for more good books. I can't stand badly written books or ones that have too much crudity and smut. Favorite Fantasy authors are

Elizabeth Moon
Anne McAffrey
Mercedes Lackey
Dianne Wynne Jones
David Weber
Jim Butcher

David Eddings is almost a favorite, but you can't read his books seperately or out of order.

I can't read Tolkien because his description are way too involved. I am incapable of true visualization. So by the time he is done describing something I can't see it at all.

I am incapable of true visualization.

Hi Shanna and welcome. I bet you can visualize things just fine; your brain most likely has it's own very specific way of 'seeing' that gets stymied by too much info. It likes to supply most of the details of an object from prior experience or knowledge of the same or similar objects and can do a good job of extrapolation when the object is a made-up one. This is, of course, my own amateur theory and not at all based on any actual expertise on my part on brain function!

Welcome to you, as well, Josh and Eric!

HI! New member here! Thanks to Becky :O). I haven't read alot of fantasy books, but I did read the entire Harry Potter series and I am 2 books into Twilight. Wicked also. I am really into the fantasy books lately though. I plan to finish the Twilight series and then dive into Son of a Witch and Lion Amoung Men. Also I look foward to finding some new recommendations here as well! Glad to join in!

Welcome Jennifer! Glad you accepted my invite! :)

Hi! I'm Sonya, Eric's wife.

He has been a great help in finding new books for me to read. He tried many years ago, 16 in fact, to get me to read the Hobbit. It did not happen, but I found many of his other books to be great books!

I tend to lean towards Paranormal Romance, but I will read just about anything. =)

Hi, Sonya. I would highly recommend just about any book by Lois McMaster Bujold to you, especially the Curse of Chalion. I'd rather recommend my own, but the romance quotient of my books is only beginning to go up, while hers are very well developed in that regard. She writes fantasy now, although she had a long-running SF series going, featuring Miles Vorkosigan. The early books in that series are more adventure stories, while the character development and romance elements come in towards the end.

Hi, Sonya, welcome to the group!

Hi Sonya,

Try the Anita Blake books by Laurell K. Hamilton. These tend to be fantasy books with a heavy dose of romance.

Jennifer wrote: "HI! New member here! Thanks to Becky :O). I haven't read alot of fantasy books, but I did read the entire Harry Potter series and I am 2 books into Twilight. Wicked also. I am really into the f..."

You might enjoy the enchanted forest books by Patricia C. Wrede (Dealing with Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, and Talking to Dragons.

Hi -

I'm another of Eric's recruits, and am Eric and Sonya's housemate. I've *long* been a fan of sci-fi/fantasy (more fantasy than hard sci-fi, but that doesn't stop me from reading either). I started reading it voraciously when I was 12 and really haven't stopped since.

My favorite authors include (but are not in any way shape or form are limited to):

Karen Traviss (I *love love love love love* the wess'har books)
Mercedes Lackey
Anne McCaffrey
Louis MacMaster Bujold (though this is recent, and I haven't read anywhere near enough of her work)
Naomi Kritzer
Catherine Asaro
Jim Butcher

I'm blanking on a lot of names right now, but I could easily go on :)

K, I usually skip these introduction things, because I so rarely think anyone cares anyway. However, since this is currently my only group, I will make an effort to remember who I am. *grin*

I was born in the midatlantic USA but have lived everywhere from vermont south to north carolina. I aspire to move to Canada once I finish up my degree (criminology/pre-law & political science). I've been reading fantasy for as long as I remember.

Favourites include Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin (for epics) and people like Ed Greenwood or Elaine Cunningham for hack n slash with character development (so few people in hack n slash remember that).

I'm always looking for new stuff. I have a pretty vast collection thus far, but it's not nearly big enough for the warehouse I intend to buy to make my personal library. :)

I prefer fantasy to other genres but will read something like James Rollins for a break now and then (and let's face it, he just writes compelling books).

I'm so glad I found a little group that isn't 5,000 people and is active. Thanks for starting it. :)

Viktoria wrote: "I was born in the midatlantic USA but have lived everywhere from vermont south to north carolina."

Wow Viktoria - that is so funny - I've also lived in both Vermont and North Carolina - VERY different places to say the least. In Vermont I was in the Northeast Kingdom - Troy - almost at the base of Jay Peak. In North Carolina I was in the Raligh/RTP area - well actually Wake Forest.

Okay so my introduction....
I've been "into" fantasy since about 13 when I read the Hobbit, followed by LOTR and then C.S. Lewis. I got a bit "burned out" after reading the same old stuff from the same old authors and went away from it awhile. Harry Potter brought me back to the genre and I really like YA stuff like that and Inkheart etc.

I noticed you are reading Mistborn - which I really liked so I'm going to go over there and chat about it in just a minute.

I'm married to a fantasy author who wrote a 6-book series that is just recently published (See my signature if you want to find out more. Glad to find this group and I'm going to start poking around.
--
Wife of GR Author Michael J. Sullivan | The Crown Conspiracy | Avempartha
Sample Chapters: Crown Conspiracy | Avempartha

Welcome Viktoria... Glad to have you. Hope you are having a great holiday!

Welcome Viktoria! Please join us for our discussion of Mistborn starting New Year's day!

And glad you finally did an intro Robin ;-)

Lol - I didn't realize I didn't do an introduction - just cruising around and noticed I didn't have one.

Robin wrote: "Viktoria wrote: "I was born in the midatlantic USA but have lived everywhere from vermont south to north carolina."

Wow Viktoria - that is so funny - I've also lived in both Vermont and North Ca..."

You know... I lived in Grand Isle Vermont and I grew up in Raleigh NC (although I did live in Wake Forest for a brief time). I've also lived in NJ, WV (very very very short -- never going back), PA (currently), IN, DE, and TN.

THAT is uncanny, woman! lol.

As for your husband, I noticed several posts that discussed Crown Conspiracy, and I have that on my list. I am not reading Mistborn, but that is on the list as well. I will not have it done by January, but I will have it done by the time the next term starts (at least, I'd better). That would be mid-January. So! I'm working on it ;)

I have trouble keeping up during the school year. Between criminal case work and constitutional law, it's a wonder I'm even sane!

Good to meet you Robin and I look forward to The Crown Conspiracy. :) :)

Both my husband and I were born in Michigan - but one year we traveled to New England on vacation and when we came across Lake Champlain and landed in Vermont my husband said...I want to live here. He is the "idea" man and I make things happen. (For instance he wrote his book but I got it published). We moved to Vermont and LOVED it but jobs are hard to come by there - I started out writing software for a small company and then became President of that company - when the owner sold it to a software company in North Carolina I got wisked down there. I think my husband's heart will always be in VT but NC has GREAT climate, good economy and reasonable cost of living. We are now outside of DC and it is VERY expensive but has a lot of bonuses we go to the museums ALL THE TIME and there are lots of free concerts and various things to do -- you couldn't possibly do all the free things in DC that there are to do there are 5 - 10 things on any given day.

Glad you have both Crown Conspiracy and Mistborn on your TBR - I liked Mistborn and of course loved Crown Conspiracy but even if not written by my hubby I would still love it - it is just a fast fun read but as the series goes on it gains such depth and is really touching. You'll have to let me know what you think about TCC when you are doe Viktoria!!

Welcome Bryce! Nice to have you.

Bryce wrote: "I'm Bryce. I'm from southeast Idaho. I work at a Marriott here and spend my time wishing that I was a great author, and never writing anything. Guess I'll never meet that goal! I'm an english major..."


Pleasure to meet you Bryce. :) Welcome to the group!

Welcome Bryce!!

Hi all! My name is Stephen and I am a science teacher living in Oklahoma. Married, kids, a dog, all that good stuff. I have been reading fantasy since I first discovered The Hobbit: Or There and Back Againwhen I was 11 or 12. Fantasy seems to be the only thing I can read, I try to branch out every now and then find that I get bored and pick up a fantasy book. Being a middle school teacher, I like to read a lot of YA fantasy to keep up with my students. Some of my favorites include
The Amulet of Samarkandand the rest of that trilogy,
Abarat, Book 1: Abarat,
Abarat, Book 2: Days of Magic, Nights of War
The Wee Free Men: A Discworld Novel
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
Stardust
Eragonand the rest

just to name a few. I love these reading groups because they give me so many ideas about what to read next, however, my TBR pile is a mile high.

Talk to you later.

Welcome to the group Stephen! :)

Hello! I love fantasy! My favorites include the Dark Jewels trilogy by Anne Bishop. Also, Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfess. Writers that I really like include Elizabeth Bear (she writes fantasy and science fiction), Keri Arthur, Jordan Castillo Price, Jim Butcher, Mercedes Lackey, Patricia Briggs, LE Modesitt, Brandon Sanderson, Ilona Andrews, Maria V. Snyder, Lisa Shearin. There are lots more. :)