SFF180 presents the Virga Readalong! discussion

Now that it's time to start this reading journey, it's time we introduced ourselves! I assume most of you know me... Thomas, long-time book reviewer for SFReviews.net (soon to be SFF180 itself) and booktubing host of this readalong. I live in Austin, and am very happy to have you all along on this voyage. Take a moment, why don't you, to say hello and let us all know something about yourselves.

Hi. My name is Richard and I am a UK-based fan of SF and F (more SF, in truth.) I come to this readalong having previously heard of neither the series nor the writer, so am intrigued to see what develops.

Hi, my name is Thad, and I'm a long-time friend of Mr. Wagner in meatspace. I'm an avid reader of both SF and F, as well as horror and weird fiction. I am not familiar with this author or series, looking forward to reading it, and also in trying out a readalong for the first time.

Hi, My name is Joan and this is my first readalong as well. I received the first two books in this series in the mail a couple of days ago and am excited to get started. I haven't read a lot of science fiction. I typically read more mystery and literary fiction. I live in south Louisiana.

Hi! I'm Caroline! I've loved science fiction and reading my whole life ♥ I'm in a bit of reading slump this year, so I hope this readalong get my reading mood back as well :D
I'm not familiar with Karl's work, but I heard a lot of good things about Lockstep and Thomas is my favorite reviewer and I trust his taste - so when he proposed a readalong, I was more than 100% in!
Hope everyone have a fantastic time and we can be abble to spread the love for scifi more and more with this and others readalongs in the future! ♥

Hello! My name is José (Joe for short). I live in Córdoba, Argentina and, fortunately I studied English translation and now I can do this readalong! I have never done one and never read any book by this author.
If I'm not mistaken, Thomas already introduced the series a couple of videos back and it already caught my attention and was "in queue", so I'm glad taht this readlong appeard.
I don't know if I'll be able to keep the reads up-to-date since I've got tons of things to read and study, but I'm glad to be here! Cheers!

Hi, I'm Rosie (or Rose) from Vancouver, Canada. I bend towards fantasy, especially YA fantasy but I'm interested in delving further into science fiction thus this readalong. Also, the author is Canadian, so feeds into another interest in reading more Canadian literature that especially is not "literary." I've read a few science fiction books but nothing that made me leap for more.

This is my first readalong. I generally don't do these kinds of things because a) I'm not in the mood to read that book or b) When I am in the mood, I read too fast for the average readalong (like I will obsessively read in all my spare time so I finish a tome such as GRRM's A Storm of Swords in less than a week). But I'm going to try anyways!

Hello, I'm Rita, I'm from Portugal, and I'm looking forward to delving into some more science-fiction. I used to read a lot of science fiction in my youth, but then gradually ended up migrating more into fantasy and some general fiction and YA so I'm hoping to get back into a science fiction groove again.

Hello all, I'm Frank. Life long reader, with sci-fi & fantasy concentration.
I have been following Thomas for almost a year and a half on You Tube and also, for years on his blog.

I jumped ahead and already finished Sun of Suns but will not spoil anything for everyone, the same method I have used for my reviews.

Hey folks, Marc here, gringo living in Costa Rica - lifelong reader, but relatively new to SF/F. Have really enjoyed diving in the past couple years. I blame booktubers and my friend who handed me the first Expanse book. This is my first readalong, look forward to the conversation - pura vida.

Hi everyone, I'm June from Barbados in the Caribbean. I have been interested in reading in sci-fi for some time and glad to stretch my reading wings. I have been watching Thomas for a while on SFF180 and was intrigued to join this read-a-long. I tend to read as diverse as I can and am more interested in not always following the trend so glad to be on board.

Hi folks. I am Eric. I have always been a reader of fantasy but have really had an opportunity to read more in the last couple years. I am a big fan of sci-fi on television and movies but for some reason have not read much in the genre. Looking forward to getting into this series with all of you!

Hello all, I'm Andrew. Lifelong reader but despite my love of all thing sci-fi, I feel woefully underread in the genre. I'm looking forward to this being a clear step in the direction of fixing that. I've never been part of an online reading community before (a few book clubs over Skype) so this is exciting!

Hello, I'm David, I'm from Chicago but split my time between here and Hong Kong. I'm a lover of anything Sci-Fi & Fantasy but especially Print Sci-Fi. I'm a Big Fan of Thomas and SFF180, and appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this community of like minded people. Reading can be a bit of a solitary hobby but stories are meant to be shared.

Hey everyone! I'm Adam, from Washington, DC, USA. I'm a reader mostly in the SciFi genre, but I love SFF180 on YouTube primarily because I'm also attempting to write a SciFi novel, and Mailbag Mondays are a great way to keep tabs on what the publishers are putting out and where the modern genre is. I actually quit reading novels for about five years after getting my degree, so I've been aggressively trying to catch up on modern and classic Sci-Fi for the last few years.

Not familiar at all with Virga - but it sounds absolutely epic in terms of worldbuilding, so I'm looking forward to having my mind bent around some crazy scenery. My day job is inside the Washington political machine and I'm about to start night school for foreign affairs, so I gravitate to stories with complex societal structures that the characters have manipulate - and Virga certainly seems fun in that regard. As a writer, I also like nerding out over the particulars of story construction, so any book is fun to tear apart from that angle.

This is going to be fun!

Hello peeps,
my name is Andrea, I'm from Germany and I am really into sci-fi novels lately. Volume one of the Virga series has been sitting on my shelf for some while now and I think that it's time to tackle it.

My name is Ibis and I live in Minneapolis, MN. I read a lot of fantasy but not much SF. I've got these two books from my public library and hope to begin reading this weekend.

Hey everyone, I'm Annika from Germany. I recently started to get into SF-reading and I'm really looking forward to participate in this (my first) read-along :) But first, I'll have to finish Clash of Kings so that I can really concentrate in Virga:)

Hi, I'm Eury! I can't remember the last time I read an SF novel so I'm excited to see what I've been missing out on :D I'm looking forward to what's to come!

Hi, I'm Peter, from Toronto, Canada. I actually have read this book before, a few times (I've also met the author a couple times), but I figured a readalong might be a fun way to spice up a new reread which I was due for anyway. I'll probably be mostly quiet both because I'm naturally fairly quiet in discussions and to avoid accidental spoilers.

Hello!
I'm Åsa and I live in Sweden. I've always been a bookworm, and recently I've been itching to read more science fiction. I've always read more fantasy. I'm looking forward to reading this, but my book hasn't arrived yet. It should come next week, so I'll have to catch up to the rest of you. :)

Hello, everyone! I'm Matthew, and I'm from Missouri, USA. As a kid, and throughout my teenage years, I was a voracious reader. University and grad school did their best to suck out my will to read fiction, but I have started reading more again over the last three or four years.

As for genres, I read primarily SFF, horror, graphic novels, and YA, with some nonfiction [primarily politics, religion(s), and philosophy] thrown in for good measure. While I haven't started making YouTube videos myself, I love watching bookish videos and keeping up with the community on Goodreads and Twitter. I've found so many great recommendations this way!

I'm planning on starting Sun of Suns today, and I look forward to finding out more about this series.

Hi, everybody! Karl here. I'm delighted to see the readalong happening. Thomas is the originator and moderator of the event, so this is his show and I'll follow his lead on how he wants me to participate, if at all. But I wanted to say hi, and to thank you for exploring my world.

One thing: yeah, these books really *are* science fiction. By my definition, this means that *almost* nothing happens in these books that couldn't happen in our universe as we know it. The world of Virga, for instance, could be built; I've had many discussions with physicists, engineers etc. and all agree on that. But the game, for me, is to construct something that's supposedly 'realistic' but yet feels as fantastic as high fantasy.

This is the second time I've done this. My very first novel, Ventus (unrelated) reads like pure swords and sorcery for the first 200 or so pages, until it's revealed that the 'magic' has been technology all along. That revelation is *not* intended to be a let-down, but to produce an even greater WOW reaction--same as here.

Anyway, enjoy! I had a great time writing these, I hope you have fun reading them. Big thanks for Thomas for getting this going! And thanks to you all for daring to try something a little different.

Hello!
My name is Olga and I'm from Panama. I'm excited to be part of this read-along, as a lot of you have stated this is a great opportunity to read and also discover new books in the SF genre, specially for those, like me, who don't know where to start! :)

I read and enjoy books from a lot of different genres, but I think SF has so much to offer. It has the potential to open our minds to new ideas, different views of the world and the people living in it and how societies can grow, work and evolve thanks to science and technology, but also without forgetting culture and principles. I just find this fascinating.

I'm interested in getting more into the genre, get used to it and stop being intimidated by hard SF books.

Hi..My name is Cheryl and I live in Canada. I am an avid reader when time permits it. My favorites have always been fantasy, mystery, non-fiction history and science fiction. I am not adverse to other genres, just no Harlequin Romance and I avoid YA.

I grew up with Star Trek, Thunderbirds and Space Family Robinson (Lost in Space) on tv and comics. I found sci fi books somewhat daunting, but I love the genre. This should be a fun read along and I look forward to seeing what Thomas has picked out.

Hello everyone, my name is Lisa and I'm from Greece. I am also an avid reader of mostly fantasy (the big fat kind of books) but as a book blogger I wanted to expand my horizons. I think SF is going to be a genre that I will really enjoy to get into. This looks to me like a perfect opportunity to be introduced to it and start reading an SF series.
I hope you'll all enjoy the Virga books!

Hi all. My name is Lee and I'm from Barryville, NY. I used to read a lot of SF in my youth but moved on to a more eclectic reading habit; now the Wheel has turned {no pun here} and I'm interested in SF again. I thought this read-a-thon would be a good way to start reintroducing myself to the genre. I look forward to discussing with all of you.

Hello! Avid reader and long-time scifi fan. I've been watching Thomas on booktube a several months and when he came up with this I just thought it was perfect because I've been wanting to try to read more space opera type books. I've never been able to get into that but I think if Thomas is recommending it for an intro scifi and into this subgenre it will be good stuff. Just waiting for the library to give it!

I had nothing to do but read so I expect to be reading ahead of everyone. If I like the series I'll probably just charge on and leave everyone behind. I'll try to drop in on threads anyway!

Hi Everybody! I'm Joe from Fredericksburg, Virginia and I have been a Sci-Fi Fantasy reader all my life. Started out with Timothy Zahn's Star Wars trilogy in the early 1990's. I have been watching Thomas on youtube for about a year and have been wanting to start my own channel doing book reviews, etc. I actually have purchased all 5 books in the series for about $20 off Amazon and am so far loving the first book. I look forward to meeting new people in the book community and discussing the Virga Series!

Hi everybody I'm Julie Ann and I'm from the UK. I've only just started reading sci fi since January it's not my usual genre of reading. I decided to give it a chance as I enjoy watching Thomas's booktube channel. So I am really excited to start reading.

Hi! My name is Tina and I am from Slovenia. I really want to start reading more SF so this readalong is perfect for me and now that I finally have the book I can join you all.

Hi! I am a long time SFF (and SFF180/sfreviews) fan and am super excited for the Virga-Read-Along, albiet a few days late. Just leafed into Sun of Suns this morning! Looking forward to a wonderful time getting lost in this one!

Hello all,

This is my very first read along and I am excited to try it out. I have not read a ton of SF but I enjoy SFF180 and thought I would give it a shot. I am just starting book 1 so I am a bit behind but will try to catch up. Looking forward to some great discussions!

Hi, my name is Laura and I am an assistant manager at an indie bookshop in North West London. Recently got back into my sci-fi and fantasy after being a Children's bookseller for 5 years at Waterstones. Have recently enjoyed Sleeping Giants and Long way to a Small angry planet.I am looking forward to the read along!

Hi everyone! I'm a life long reader of Fantasy, Sci-Fi and basically every other genre I can get my hands on. I'm a big fan of SFF180 and I look forward to this read along (I just finished Sun of Suns today)

Hi, my name is Yvette and I've been wanting to get back into reading more Sci-fi. I've been eyeing Virga online for a while now, so when I saw the Youtube video announcing the read-along I decided join in.
My copy finally arrived (3 days late and the box looked re-taped, so it may have already been enjoyed), and I'll be starting it this weekend.

Hey everyone, I'm Paul from Common Touch of Fantasy, and I'm starting Virga today. I'll be putting up a video for each 100 pages of Sun of Suns expressing my thoughts. Hope to enjoy the book!