Abraham Allegiant: Chronicles of the Nephilim (Volume 4)

His name is Abraham and he is ground zero for the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions. For this one, Brian Godawa has ventured into new territory. Finally after three books Godawa has stepped up to the plate and smacked one out of the park. Once again I am amazed at his knowledge of the Babylonian and Sumerian culture and all the side stories, research and theories into Abraham and his founding of a nation. He has brought Abraham to life and you get the sense you are with him while reading this story. This one might stir the hornets nest of the religious groups associated with Abraham. What a fantastic retelling of the story of Abraham and his journey into the Canaan lands. I suggest you leave your nice white washed Sunday school pacifist version of Abraham at the door. Godawa has made him into the badass warrior and leader he really was. When his commandos rescue Lot it's as good as any action adventure story I ever read. Abraham Allegiant has it all, great heroes, evil villains, exciting chases, classic battles, love, sex and Abraham's devotion to his god and his wife Sari. The story skips over the whole Abraham in Egypt episode but talks about it in flashbacks. It might have required more than one book to tell that part of the story, but it doesn't take anything away from the book. As it was with Enoch Primordial, you really come to despise and hate the Watchers who fled to earth, then mated with the humans to create the Nephilim giants.The take on the tower of Babel is extremely interesting and his version of what really happened at Sodom and Gomorrah that brings a new twist that follows closely with the latest discoveries around the Dead Sea region of Jordan. As with his other books the story is backed up with a lot of info in the appendix for your own research and discussions. It is quite hard to put a date on the Old Testament stories in the bible, as there is much debate among the scholars as to when they took place. So much is based on wrong assumptions that keep being referenced today. While I don't agree with all of it Godawa makes a strong case for how it might have been. He really doesn't get into Sari and her family importance and speculation as some researchers have done. Don't make this the first book you read in this series, at least read Gilgamesh Immortal before this one. Once you start Abraham Allegiant you can't put it down. I just loved the battle tactics with the Archangels in this one. For the Christian crowd this book will challenge some views you might have about Abraham. Putting the tower of Babel in the mix was a brilliant move. For those who have ever researched Abraham and his story from Ur to Canaan, Godawa provides lots of info and tries to fill in the blanks. Some of these things might be true. Remember this is a creative version of Abraham but clearly based on a lot of historical and archeological facts. When an author has the courage to challenge the Evangelical crowd and still stay with in the bounds of the Christian faith, I give em a nod as it takes great skill and talent to pull it off. Godawa makes use of more colorful dialog between the characters and also some disturbing descriptions of how the fallen Watchers abuse the humans physically and psychologically. I found this a big addition to the story. It really brought out how much danger Abraham was in, and how much faith the man had when his own life was on the line. Godawa brings his best to those sections. There is a very uplifting point when he meets his true family and fully understands what he must do. I will not give that away, read the book.For the non-Christian, this is a really great retelling of the classic epic story of how the Jewish nation was started. What was of interest to me was how much of the same politics and fights we still have today in our present civilization. The wars in the Middle East taking place today over land and who controls what, all go back to the story of Abraham.If you enjoy the ancient history of Mesopotamia, Sumerians and Canaanites this book brings them all together and brings up a lot of questions still to be answered. Maybe the Nephilim genetic code is still alive, who knows, or if we are lucky Abraham and his descendants wiped them out for good. I cannot wait for the next book, which looks like it's going to be Joshua and his defeat of Og and the Rephaim. I have truly enjoyed reading these books. Ho hurrah Brian Godawa, great job.Since there are no half stars I give this one five and not four and a half.

I did not love the gory details presented in this story, but it fit with the retelling of Abraham’s story and the era of his time. This author has an amazing imagination in clearly describing the beauty and ugliness of the characters. Another action packed story!

In Volume 4 of the Chronicles of the Nephilim, Godawa brings to life another biblical character, Abraham. Set against the schemes of the fallen angels and corrupt leaders like Nimrod, Godawa once again fills in between the lines where the Bible and other ancient works lay silent. Action and fantasy, set against ancient history and a ancient legends, both real and mythical, makes for a fast-paced page-turner.If you haven't read the previous books, you can start here, but reading at least  Gilgamesh Immortal  would set up this story even better. This is a great, unique series that appeal to many readers. And it's not just intended for Bible readers and, for the most part, has a much more realistic tone than what is considered "Christian Fiction." If you enjoy ancient history or fantasy, give this series a try.Godawa merges the Babel and Abraham stories here into one, which are traditionally separated by many centuries. In his Appendix he gives some background information on the difficulty of figuring out where the biblical events fit into history. However, it is more complicated than he implies. The claim that "increasingly that the events of the Bible did not happen because they do not line up with...archaeology." This is not true, nor is it necessary to resort to radical (and debatable) theories like dating the Exodus to 2450 BC.The crux is the long time debate over the dating of the fall of Jericho. Claims that it wasn't inhabited or destroyed when the Bible states are largely based on the work of Kenyon in the 1950s and others. Her conclusions and methods have been called into serious question by Bryant Wood and others. Problems like figuring out dates of the Exodus because of misunderstandings of the Hebrew (or even scribal errors in some cases), but Godawa's statements of "no evidence" of Egypt's defeat (by the Hebrews) or the Jews wandering in the desert are without merit. Here's why:Egypt itself wasn't defeated, only its (or a) army. Any Egyptologist will confirm that Egypt did not record defeats, and if it did, they were made to sound like wins. They were also proficient at changing the past records when it suit them. Also, should we expect evidence of the Exodus in a desert that has erased many a city and person?Granted, I like how Godawa has brought together Abraham and Babel. Is it historical? Probably not. Nor are pre-Abraham chronologies the same as later ones. Hebrew scholars rarely consider the early ones like we would family trees. Genealogies didn't necessarily include everyone, only who the writer felt need mentioned. Even the two New Testament versions are approached differently by each writer for different purposes. That's why setting the earlier book about Noah somewhere in the Bronze Age is far too late. Godawa has done a great job in mining research on the Bible and other Near East traditions, but there is far more to this particular issue.  The Genesis Question  explores some of these issues in the early (primeval) chapters of Genesis.  The Miracles of Exodus  tries to decode some of the Exodus dating problems. Not sure he gets all of it exactly right, but a good starting place.

This book is a continuation of the war between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, the Nephilim. With the rise of Nimrod and Babylon comes the first world empire, and it's counter, the birth of a chosen seed, Abram. The author brings a mostly forgotten time in ancient history to life on the pages through a mix of ancient texts, the Book of Genesis, and archeological discoveries, ie, the Gate of Ishtar. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend the series.

Great novel and brought a lot of Biblical themes to life and a very imaginative way. It also made great use of extra Biblical writings without going against what the Bible actually says.

En general, me gusta mucho la manera en que está enfocada la historia. Aunque, obviamente, siempre puedes pensar en cosas que habrías enfocado de manera diferente, es una historia cautivadora y que encarna el sobrenaturalismo que vemos en la Biblia de una forma que engancha. Dicho eso, creo que, con las historias que tiene en toda la saga de novelas, podría haber extraído mucho más de las historias que tiene. Muchos de los aspectos los pasa de puntillas, cuando podría meterse mucho más profundamente.

Another stunning one done! I've read the previous books in the series so the story pulled me in from the beginning. Jaw dropping, inspiring, and well written! The kingdom of darkness is in such a derision, it was hilarious to read.From now, when you read your Bible, think about the reason behind the behaviours of certain kings and cities. The dark influence of the watchers and nephilim was heavy! I'm off to the next book!

It's amazing how the writer brings the biblical character to life. What you read in the bible only gives glimpses into who the person was and an overall picture of events. While I appreciate it's fictional, it allows the person reading to think 'that's how it could have happened'. What it does, is pique the interest of the reader - me - to pick up my bible more to read it. It also brings us to the point of who God is and who we are to him. We are not perfect and the heroes of faith mentioned in Hebrews 11 aren't either, but that does not stop God from using us. If the objective was to get us to read and study the bible more, then I would say that Brian Godawa has delivered in spades. I am absolutey enjoying the series.

I loved that I could now put these biblical characters in perspective. It has enriched my understanding of biblical context of the ancient near East.Thank you, Brian, for this wonderful book.