I'm at a slight disadvantage, since I often don't keep track of books that I've read, but now that I'm on Goodreads, I'm giving it a try. I'm hoping I haven't missed adding any of the books I've read (or re-read, as the case is with a lot of my favorite books) so far this year. You can see how far I've come by checking the box on the left of this blog. I'm a little behind, but I'm sure I can catch up!
Another feature of Goodreads is being able to rate and review books read. While I rated other books that I entered, I didn't want to go back and review all of them, so I'm going to start my reviews now, having just started the challenge yesterday.
Yesterday I also finished a great paperback book that I picked up at the Borders Going Out of Business sale (sigh, still so sad!! I wish Borders wasn't leaving!!), titled Fable: The Balverine Order by Peter David.
I was attracted to the book because my husband, over the course of our 6 year marriage, has introduced me to the xBox and the world of gaming. Granted, I'm still not a true "gamer" in any sense of the word, but there have been a few games that I have enjoyed. Three of those have been the Fable series. I loved how the worlds were really well crafted and the storyline (I mean, game-line) was interesting. So when I saw the title of this book, I was immediately attracted to it!
I checked on my Droid to see if I could get it in eBook form first, but it was only available on the Kindle (which is one of those devices that doesn't have a format you can download onto the Nook - I wish Amazon would realize the much larger eBook market of producing eBooks in more than one form!!!) so I went ahead and bought the paperback (much to the dismay of my husband, who believes our bookcase to be overflowing as it is).
It didn't take me long to read through it, as the story was well-written and captured my attention!!
The book is a fantastic journey into the realm of Albion, the game world of the popular xBox game series Fable. I was worried that since it was geared towards "gamers" that it would be in a juvenile form, but I was happily mistaken! The language was adult, and the storyline was captivating for readers from teen to adult.
Here's some of my favorite quotes:
"Living is not a pastime for the faint of heart," he says. "And the commonality of the human experience is that no one gets out alive."
"That's the problem with smart, well-read people like you, Thomas. You're always thinking, thinking, thinking about the road you already walked and trying to wonder whether it would have been better if you'd taken the right fork instead of the left fork or the left fork instead of the right fork. Well...fork that."
"You know why tales of adventure and heroism are printed in black ink on white paper, Thomas? It's because it's only there, in such fables, that the world is black-and-white. In the real world, it's all about shades of gray."
"Perhaps," I allow, "it was an unwise thing for Thomas to do. But youth is the time for men to make mistakes, and be driven by their passions. Knowledge may be gained from books, but wisdom can only be gained by experience, and mistakes are the greatest granters of wisdom. If one is afraid to make mistakes, then how will one stretch the bounds of one's world? One should not simply walk gently into walls; one should run into them at full speed."
Overall, this book as an excellent read for all those who enjoy a good fantasy novel! I think I might have to check out some of Peter David's other works. I see that he has plans to release another Fable book in October... I'll probably buy it! :) On Goodreads, I gave this book 5 stars.
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