Question about the bible.?

So my christian friend urged me to read the bible. Being a fan of fantasy stories and other escapist works I gave it a try. So for it's been on par. It has a nice mythos to it and has some interesting characters. So far though I haven't found anything too profound, as it seems a tad cliched and bogged down in fantastical nonsense. What confuses me is how large it's fan base is. I understand it has quite a large fan-club with some very dedicated readers, bordering on making the book a cult classic. There are gatherings of readers every week where someone will read a few passages as well. I might just not be getting it, but a lot of people seem to like this book. While I still prefer Tolkien this book has really piqued my interest, and I want to learn more about it. Can anyone perhaps say why this is so popular?