Joshua Valiant: Chronicles of the Nephilim (Volume 5)

Just now starting book 6. I've really enjoyed the first 5 books. It's been a very interesting series.

When Og was King of the RephaimIt gets harder and harder to write a constructive review for Brian's books. On one hand they get better and better, then on the other hand they get bogged down trying to follow Christian doctrine. He is a gifted writer no doubt, who knows his target audience very well. He goes to great lengths not to piss them off but doesn't always succeed. I myself just love the story and the history of the region that he brings to the common reader. Again this one is packed with an earful and Mr. Godawa excels at his knowledge of the ancient history and religious practices. It was disturbing how he brought the Canaanite gods and rituals into the picture to explain the background for Rahab and then, that ended up being my favorite part of this book as it was fascinating. Just read it, not giving any details here. His continuation of the Watchers and their offspring the Nephilim giants, who grew in numbers to rule the land that was promised to Abraham, has now come to the next chapter. The beginning of the big fight or war for the Holy Land, and let me just say it is a historic fight. Joshua was a brilliant military commander who was taught well by Moses. Many don't think of these figures as such but they were. Most folks just know about the battle of Jericho where the walls fell down when the trumpets sounded. Very few know the back-story of the spies who helped Joshua or how Yahweh trained and disciplined the army of Moses through the Priest line of Aaron. It'll be hard for those who tend to ignore parts of story that deal with the wholesale slaughter of every man woman and child at the hands of Joshua's army to come to grips with the reality of it, and this one is brutal for the seed of eve and the seed of the serpent, no punches are pulled here. It makes you wonder just where is the compassionate God from the New Testament in all this? For the non-Religious folk Yahweh will look just as bad as the Canaanite Gods and in war the victor writes the history. Look at what the Romans did to the Jews in the 1st century. But if you believe Yahweh is the top God and righteous, then the entire bloodshed is justified. What is so special about this series is the big arch. Brian is the master craftsman and leads you into this world. A world that will leave your brain exhausted and many questions left unanswered and plenty of topics in the appendix with references to explore at your leisure. I myself was very familiar with the side stories concerning Baal, El, Ashtart and the Canaanite Gods and their practices and this writer left very few stones unturned. Kudos to Brian for bringing to the masses the Ugaritic texts and the mention of word Bathan for the Jewish word Bashan. Bathan means serpent in Ugaritic and for the Jews Bashan was "the place of the serpent". Brings everything full circle. His use of Giants lore for the region is incredible and there were giants or very tall humans back then from Rome to Egypt, even Josephus in his Antiquities mentions one. This one jumped around a bit more than his other books between the different story lines, but there are a lot of characters to deal with and Brian does an excellent job. I have to say I flew through this book to get to Caleb, which I was dying to read. Then kept having to back up to let the reality of what I just read sink in. When the Arch Angels from Yahweh arrive you just can't put the book down. Joshua, Caleb, Othniel, Rahab, will be remembered and honored once again. This series is just brilliant. Maybe someday when this series is finished, Brian Godawa will turn his talents to writing about the rest of the Judges and those great stories.Ho Hurrah

Chronicles of the Nephilim Series by Brian Godawa is a Wonderful, Amazing Adventure series based on the Bible. The Series contains 8 books which are;Noah Primeval (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 1)Enoch Primordial (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 2) A Prequel to Book 1. (I read this one first to stay in time order, But you can do it which ever way your prefer).Gilgamesh Immortal (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 3)Abraham Allegiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 4)Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5)Caleb Vigilant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 6)David Ascendant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 7)and the soon Coming Jesus Ascendant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 8)Brian Godawa is an author who entertains and educates. We get the Biblical Narrative as well as many ancient beliefs and myths (Babylonian, Assyrian, Philistine, etc.,) all put together in a wonderful coherent story that stays true to Biblical narrative and at the same time is a fast paced action packed adventure drama with superheros and super villains deluxe.In a way this is like Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, but instead of taking biblical truths and setting them to a myth it takes the Biblical stories and fills in the blanks with “myths”. Godawa takes mythical concepts and makes them real in the books such as Leviathan and Rahab. But he has done his research and this fictional story may be closer to the truth then many expect.Godawa deals with Angels, Fallen Angels, Nephilim, The Giants in Scriptures, Demons, Giant Slayers, etc., There are additional pages of special appendixes that provide an explanation of Biblical concepts all 7 novel’s such as the Divine Council, the Nephilim, Leviathan, and the ancient Mesopotamian Cosmography in the Bible, Number of Israelites who left Egypt, Styers, Dragons, etc.,IF you like Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, Harry Potter, really any fantasy writings you will like this as well. This is an adult series though. Not for the very young. I really hope they make the whole series into movies.

I think the storyline of all of Mr Godawa’s books is an interesting concept. The story seems to be well researched.

Putting flesh and blood on the Bible. Brian did all the hard work of researching and pulling it all together in this wonderful book.The value of knowing the evil characters brought to life in this series and being familiar with their evil plans in history and now will come to light soon in our world as we approach the end.We always say “THEY” when we talk about who is responsible for the evil that is going on behind the scenes in our world, this series answers who they is. What happened then is happening now and will become more apparent as time goes on.While it is fiction, it is based on fact and puts the names and places on the tip of your tongue.Not far from the story that Jesus will tell us when we see him I bet.Great read.

This book was good. Like I said before. When I read the Bible from now on I need to read it from God’s Spiritual eyesight. I was hurt when they killed Joshua’s wife and son along with other men, women, and children. Joshua went into overkill when he hacked Balaam to pieces. I’m into Book 6. Thank you Mr. Brian Godawa. Good Series.

This series is surprisingly good and I especially appreciate the apendecies in each where he gives the scholarship behind his creative choices. He shows that it's pointing to something in a Scriptural context.

It was a good read. However did not really have an ending. I understand The book continues in the story of Caleb, however, it would've been nice to have some sort of conclusion to Joshua's story.

Great addition to the series

I love Brian's writing style. Especially how he incorporates scholarly material and makes it accessible to common readers. Thank you so much.