[afa]

Greetings all,

So, I've actually been an active member for a fair bit, but it only just occurred to me that I've never formally introduced myself. Let me just say that I think MobileRead is awesome. While I do know people who occasionally read, none of my close friends or family are all that into it. It's great to be a part of a community where there are people who love to read as much as I do (and in many cases, far more). In other words, a lot of people with far too much time on their hands. Much like me!

Like my avatar, I spend a fair bit of time lurking in the shadows, following.. watching.. waiting.. Unlike Mr. 47, however, I am unarmed, so you need not be alarmed. So, let me go ahead and give a semi-brief and semi-fake introduction...

My name is Christopher McDowski. (Not really, but it is my chosen alter-ego on the WorldWideInterWebnet). I am a Pakistani living in Dubai (really). Am I the only one? Anyone else here from the sun-scorched land? I have always wanted to write a novel of my own (not really, though I've toyed with the idea recently), and wished that I would one day become as obscenely rich and successful as the John Grishams, Dan Browns and J. K. Rowlings of the world (really). And I am completely and utterly confident that I have what it takes to achieve that (not really).

My preferred genre is Fantasy. Although I have enjoyed reading fiction from a early age, my transformation into a Fantasy reader was a rather drawn out (and recent) one.

It started when I watched Peter Jackson's film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. Having never read the books (and being very anti-movie-trailers), I went in the theater not knowing anything about the subject matter other than it had something to do with wizards, elves, and something called a 'hobbit'. A little over 3 hours later, I walked out, blown away. The very next day (not really - probably more like a week after) I went out and bought all three books, and read them back-to-back.

Still, I did not consider myself a 'Fantasy' reader. Not because I had anything against the genre; it's just that I read the books because of the movies, and so the fact that it was Fantasy was just... happenstance. I eventually got around to reading the Harry Potter books, too (though I hesitated, considering how atrocious the movies were), but still, I didn't think of myself as reading Fantasy because, well, it's Harry Potter and everyone knows Harry Potter.

And so, about two years ago, I was in the bookshop and looking for something to buy and spotted The Dark Tower series. Now, I'm not really a Stephen King fan, but this seemed interesting, and different from his usual B-movie horror (no offense to any Constant Readers), so I picked it up. It was at this point that I officially became interested in Fantasy, since this was the first time I bought books because of the genre, rather than external factors.

I have since read:
- The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan - Good series, but a heck of a lot of filler.
- Acacia by David Anthony Durham - Decent, but I was a little underwhelmed.
- The First Law by Joe Abercrombie - Love it, love it, love it.
- Elantris by Brandon Sanderson - Quite good.
- The Scar by China Miéville - A fair bit underwhelmed. I liked the second half, despised the first.

I'm currently reading Abercrombie's Best Served Cold and enjoying it. I also have over a dozen unread ones on my shelf, patiently waiting my loving/molesting hands. These are all what are apparently called "dead tree" books. As you can see from my little profile, I don't yet have an e-reader. However, my recently ordered/shipped nook Wi-Fi has arrived at our locals customs, and I should be getting it in a couple of days.

Looking forward to it!

P. S. - I apologise for the length of my post... I tend to get a bit verbose (or annoyingly long-winded, if you prefer). Of course, that doesn't mean I'm going to shorten this post; I like that I'm verbose. There are people in this world who have a remarkable knack for making you feel they've said a lot, even while they write sparsely, words at a premium, each word full to the brim with wisdom and intelligence. I am not one of those people.