Welcome to “Fiction Friday.” That’s what I’m choosing to call a new series of book reviews — fiction book reviews (or novels), to be precise — on this, my pastoral blog. Every Wednesday, I will post a nonfiction book review, and every Friday, a fiction book review. Hence, the name “Friday Fiction.” And so, on this October 16, we look at Noah Primeval by Brian Godawa.
My earliest memories of Noah stem from my childhood when my mom would help me read through my children’s Bible or when my parents and I would watch some of those old Bible movies on our TV with rabbit ears.
About the age of ten, a few more details were added to the story thanks to my Sunday school teacher at Trinity Baptist Church in Warrenton, Virginia. Mrs. Williams (the pastor’s wife) would walk us through the various stories of the Bible, using a flannel board with felt Bible characters to illustrate.
Of course, in my teenage and grown-up years, I would actually read and study what the Bible itself says about Noah — mainly in the book of Genesis.
And yet the image of Noah I had, as I would read the Bible or hear him discussed in sermons, wouldn’t stray far from the image I had of a thoughtful, pious, old man with a beard — the image I developed from those old Bible movies, my children’s Bible, and the stories in Mrs. Williams’ Sunday school class.
Well… the Noah that Brian Godawa serves up in Noah Primeval shatters that image completely!
And I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.
As Michelle Van Loon puts it in her review of Noah Primeval: “We’ve turned a story of a flesh-and-blood man standing apart from his own decaying culture into a nursery decoration.”
The image we have of Noah in popular Christian circles needs some work.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Several years ago, we were treated to another reimagining of Noah — one splashed across the Big Screen thanks to Hollywood director and screenwriter Darren Aronofsky.
That Noah, played by Russell Crowe, was one of the darkest characters of any film I’ve seen. Released in 2014, Noah was based very loosely on the book of Genesis, and starred Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Ray Winstone, and Anthony Hopkins — along with Crowe.
It was horrible.
Thus, I’m not defending any reimagining of Noah. I’m simply pointing out that our image of Noah — as a kindly, wise, old man — is rather shallow. And while probably closer to the truth than Crowe’s crazy man version, there’s still a wide gap between the Noah of actual history and the image many of us have of him today.
As Godawa explains in his extended Preface for Noah Primeval: “For those who are leery of such a ‘novel’ approach, let them consider that the traditional Sunday school image of Noah as a little old white-bearded farmer building the ark alone with his sons is itself a speculative cultural bias.”
Sadly, the story of Noah is so far back in the past that we are left with the need to use our imagination (and to do so quite extensively) should we decide to adapt the story to novel or film.
Godawa’s imagining of Noah, while probably a tad far-fetched, is at least respectful of the biblical account and the legacy of the man at the center of it. As he explains: “This novel seeks to remain true to the sparse facts presented in Genesis (with admittedly significant embellishments) interwoven with theological images and metaphors come to life.”
Brian Godawa is a bestselling author and successful Hollywood screenwriter. Noah Primeval, published in 2011, kicked off Godawa’s Chronicles of the Nephilim series. Now stretching across eight volumes, the Chronicles of the Nephilim is a saga that, according to Godawa’s website, “charts the rise and fall of the Nephilim and just what their place is in the evil plans of the fallen Sons of God called, ‘The Watchers.'”
As a Christian who enjoys reading fiction, I appreciate very much what Godawa is doing with Noah Primeval — as well as the subsequent novels in his Chronicles of Nephilim series. He is bringing the Bible to life. Granted, it’s not Bible study reading, but it is Bible-inspired entertainment. And it’s commendable.
Be warned. Godawa’s “significant embellishments” are indeed significant. To use one of his own phrases, he engages in several “flights of fancy” to bring the pre-Flood, primeval world of Noah alive. And it’s a world complete with supernatural wonders, angels, demons, Nephilim, pagan rituals, child sacrifice, and a journey into Sheol. Oh, we also get to experience a little bit of Leviathan. And this is all before the Flood comes.
As previously mentioned, Godawa’s novel is certainly not intended for Bible study. It’s a vehicle for entertainment. That is all. And one should take it with a proverbial grain of salt.
Nevertheless… as entertainment… Godawa’s novel succeeds. Hollywood producer Ralph Winter, known for his work on the X-Men and Star Trek film franchises, praised Godawa’s novel as a “cinematic novel” that “reads like a blockbuster movie.” And he’s correct.
As you read through the book, you’ll wish Hollywood had put Godawa’s Noah on the Big Screen instead of the psychopath that Russell Crowe gave us in Aronofsky’s dark film.
The paperback version of Noah Primeval is 394 pages and is appropriate for teen and adult readers. It is also available on Amazon Kindle and at Audible. You can also visit the author’s website.
