There I was, library card in hand, with nothing to read before a weekend at the beach. Suddenly, I saw it. The Book of Joby. Wait…thats a lie. I saw a book with a dragon on the cover. Its been awhile since I have read a good fantasy book, the ‘fantasy fiction’ (as opposed to fantasy non-fiction??) library tag added to the draw and I figured…what the heck?
There are two major downfalls to this book. I ‘borrowed’ it from the library on Wednesday and didn’t actually go to the beach until Friday morning. By the time I actually got to the beach… I finished reading the book in less than two hours (having spent two days sneaking readings before hand)…I was already to the last hundred or so pages. So…BAD Mark Ferrari for writing a book that I couldn’t put down! Now I’m at the beach and all I have to do is blog! The second downfall? No dragons. But thats ok. Shapeshifters and demons make up for the lack of dragons.
This was a fabulous book and I have a really hard time grasping how this could possibly be ANYONES first novel. This is so well written, so gripping, and so involved that it could easily be a very good writers magnum opus. Which of course means, Mark Ferrari…that I am expecting many extraordinary novels to follow in the footsteps of this one!
The basic story premise? Mr Ferrari has thrown God and the Devil into battle..well, into a wager, in this novel. God had withdrawn, he will not interfer, while Lucifer can do whatever he wants to win…except, of course, for telling Gods champion that he is embroiled in a bet between Heaven and Hell…and failure will result in an Earth built in the imagine of Lucifer. Did I mention that God choses a 9 year old boy? Huh? What? No really, thats what happens!
As if thats not enough of a story, Ferrari throws in Arthurian legend into the mix. I mean honestly…wow.
Dont just borrow it from the library, add it to your shelf. This was the best read that I have had in quite some time!
Oh, and check out Mark Ferrari who also is a very talented artist. Enjoy.
