While I may not be well versed with old literature much, I do like to think that I am a well read guy. I love reading. And like everyone else, I do have my favorites and my niche. Funny isn’t it, how a group of genres become your niche? Most of what I’ve learned about this world, strangely comes from fiction. Stories about different worlds and fictional characters under different circumstances. Thoughts like - If I were the protagonist or one of the protagonist, how would I do all those fictitious things? have made me better than what I was when not reading or processing or simply enjoying. Reading, is one of the finer joys of life. And I am thankful to my parents, for providing me the education needed to be able to educate myself further.
Most of my though processes and principles are borrowed, from fiction novels and comics/manga/anime. While most of what those fictitious characters do, may not apply to the real world, their processes and principles do. My first experience with a story spans back years. When I was in school, studying in the 6th grade. One of the reasons, I fail at grammar is because while growing up we moved a lot, within the city itself. So, I was changing schools often. Sixth grade is when I changed schools for the last time. Sixth grade is also when I started reading. Thinking to myself, that I may have to change schools again and by the looks of it, I would not be able to learn what I may need to. While that being said, I started with reading comics. Yea, that learning bit went right out of the window. That’s what I thought initially.
My then stash of comics included more of Indian comics like Chacha Chaudhary , some Amar Chitra Katha and, Tinkle . Archie Comics was another, not an India comic, but was available here. Within a year, I had graduated to Hardy Boys Mysteries and Nancy Drew Mysteries . And, wait for it… Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Super Mysteries!
Chacha Chaudhary is a very popular Indian comic book character...</a>
About a year after reading all that, a family member gifted me, The Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett . That was it for me. After that, I read Ken Follet like there was no tomorrow. Along the way, experiencing the works of Robert Ludlum , Eric Van Lustbader , John Burdett Frederick Forsyth (introduced to me by another close friend), H.G Wells , John Grisham (introduced to me by a friend), Gabriel Garcia Marquez and, so on.
Soon, someone would introduce me, to the world that created by J.R.R Tolkien . And once introduced to it, I realized this unfathomable hunger to read more epic fantasy fiction. That hunger came from the fact that - How could one man, possibly hold so much imagination? An imagination so big to be able to create worlds, races, culture, tradition and languages, how? This led me to search for authors who wrote books that would never end. The kind that would always be full, with your favorite characters, grand places and backgrounds and, new plots. Well, I agree that is naive of me. But I did find some amazing works by brilliant authors. The likes of The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan , Series of books set in the Forgotten Realms(introduced to me by a family member) by authors like R. A. Salvatore , Codex Alera Series and, The Dresden File series by Jim Butcher (introduced to me by a family member), Neil Gaiman , J. D. Salinger and, so on.
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The Itko Kan Massacre - Malazan Book of The Fallen</a>, Fan art by Luktarig</a>
Sometime, during the course of my growing up, I started to write poetry. This led me to read more poetry and, get to know more about poets of all kind. Not being able to express much and, unknowing of how to express emotions and feelings physically or verbally led me to express how I felt, with poetry. The first poem I wrote, was kind of a thank you to Robert Frost and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. We had English as our first language subject, and the fourth grade introduced me to this poem. To this day, it stays to be my favorite of all.
Other favorites include, works by Samuel Taylor Coleridge , William Barnes , John Fuller , John Keats , Pablo Neruda , Khalil Gibran , Rumi and, of course Shakespeare.
Currently, I am reading some One Piece manga and trying to complete the Malazan Book of The Fallen series by Steven Erikson . While on the subject of Malazan Book of The Fallen series, this one right here, takes the cake home. I haven’t come across any book or series till date, that compares to this series or comes close to it in anyway whatsoever. The sheer number of characters and personal stories involved, is mind numbingly beautiful. The world creation is complex, detailed and, full. It’s quickly turned out to be the best I’ve ever read, amongst whatever it is that I’ve read so far! Did someone say Game of Thrones? Doesn’t even come close to it! Trust me!
Cover of Gardens of The Moon - First Book of the Malazan Book of The Fallen series</a>
