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It Takes Men of Giant Faith to Face the Giants of Canaan. After four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, the Israelites are prepared to enter the land of Canaan.

There’s only one It’s crawling with giants.

They’re the Seed of the Serpent with many Anakim, Rephaim, Zuzim and others.

Two Israelites, Joshua and Caleb, have the faith to lead Israel against these monsters.

Their first King Og of Bashan, the last of the mighty Rephaim giants.

But the goddess he worships has plans to annihilate Israel with an evil occultic army.

The War of the Seed is climaxing in this first of two companion novels, including Caleb Vigilant.

Joshua Valiant is the fifth book of the series Chronicles of the Nephilim, a biblical epic story of the fallen angelic Watchers and their offspring, the Nephilim giants of Genesis 6.

Written by respected Christian and best-selling Biblical author, Brian Godawa.

Learn About the Historical and Biblical Research Behind the Novel Author Brian Godawa shares an appendix that provides an explanation of Biblical concepts in the novel such as satrys and centaurs, winged fiery serpents, Og of Bashan, the giant Anakim sons of Anak, and other Biblical mysteries.



On The Age Appropriateness Of The NovelsThis Biblical Fiction series is rated PG-13, appropriate for mature teens and above, similar to the Bible and The Lord of the Rings.

340 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 4, 2013

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About the author

Brian Godawa

110 books385 followers
Brian Godawa has been a professional filmmaker, writer, and designer for over 20 years. His creative versatility was born of a passion for both intellect and imagination, both left-brain and right-brain. The result: Brian is an artisan of word, image, and story that engages heart, mind, and soul. Just think, "Renaissance Man."

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
Profile Image for Jonathan Roberts.
2,211 reviews52 followers
February 18, 2020
Read this a second time in 2020, this time while reading the Book of Joshua in the Bible, so good to tag this together with the reading of God’s Word! Highly recommended!!

First read in 2017: Once again Godawa has done it; taken Old Testament stories, infuse them with some fantasy (which does not mean untrue or heretical) elements and made a rip roaring fun tale. Complete with battles, angels and giants!! Loads of fun, the best part is that it is based on God's Word!!
1 review
February 19, 2019
Thought provoking

Brian's book is a page turner that challenges me to dig deeper and take a closer look at scripture. While I find many of the explanations of difficult texts found in commentaries to not be satisfying I am reluctant to embrace as plausible the story that he has crafted. Much to his credit though Brian goes the extra mile in the end of his book to lay out the sources that support and add credibility to his story. I enjoyed the book and was particularly blessed by the thoughts of Caleb who is such a remarkable man of character and faith. I am looking forward to reading the next book of the series that bears his name.
15 reviews
March 6, 2019
A Few Problems

Molech is the shameful King in the unholy pantheon who is over both Baal and Ashtoreth! Molech displaced Mot for rulership over Sheol. Ashtoreth and Molech are twins and Baal is the son of Astoreth,ie Nimrod.

Baal Rimmon was the former Baal also called Shachar who was the father of the twins with Asherah their mother. Asherah was just Naamah, Noah's wife who had the twins after Canaan castrated Noah.

Shachar, Yam and Mot (Zeus, Poseidon and Hades) are 3 of the 4 angles bound in the Euphrates. Molech, Ashtoreth, Baal are the unholy trinity with Asherah a lesser fourth since she is not of angelic descent but is the mother of all mankind post flood and mother of the divine twins.

The four angels that guarded Eden pre-flood are the post flood source of the Nephilim. They were imprisoned at Babel for falling into error but the children rule sheol. The four replacements took over because Yah gave dominion over the earth to man.

Molech is Lucifer who is just the spirit of a dead nephilim. He is the Greek god Apollo. Ashtoreth was both Artemis and Aphrodite during different stages of her life.

The baalim were worshiped as a group with Baal and Ashtoreth in the grove on the high place at the head of a valley. The grove represented the pubic hair of mother earth while the children from the ritual prostitution were sacrificed in the valley between her legs at a sacred spring or cave representing her vaginal opening. Asherah poles were young trees in the grove with the standing stumps carved as phallic images of the goddesses carved in the standing shafts used for sexual purposes.

If you are going to write about the ancient paganism, might want to get the facts straight. Granted in the mystery religions, you had to be a high level initiate to know this. I learned it from a very high level high priestess of Ashtoreth who didn't expect me to live long enough to tell anyone.
Profile Image for Thomas.
215 reviews26 followers
September 23, 2023
Joshua Valiant is a dramatic retelling of Israel's desert wanderings as recounted in the book of Numbers. The action begins with ten hungry, giant Annakim warriors with a taste for human flesh preparing their dinner which consists of two freshly captured Israelite scouts. It concludes with Israel poised on the threshold of the Promised Land under new leadership after the death of Moses.

In between there are quite a few compelling personal dramas - Rahab has a fascinating background, fantastic creatures (e.g. scheming demons, horny satyrs, and determined Archangels), plus desperate battles pitting good against evil. We meet two kings of the Transjordan that must be overcome in order for Israel to secure a safe entry point into the Cisjordan to begin their conquest of the Promised Land: Sihon of Heshbon, and Og of Bashan.

These are not fictional characters. They are from the Scriptures. But Sihon is not described as a giant, only as a mighty king of the area whose colonial ambitions were so well known that he had a ballad penned for him about his subduing of the Moabites under his power. A ballad that finds its way into this novel as well.

Godawa presents the situations and the people of the Bible in a vivid and emotional way. He makes the story come to colorful life by depicting legendary, biblical characters as real people with faults, foibles, and humor who are as fearful of death, pain, and humiliation as we are today.

Joshua suffers great personal loss and takes vengeance on the enemy through gratuitous violence on the battlefield. Othniel does not hesitate to risk life or limb during combat, but he cannot bring himself to risk rejection and humiliation by asking for the hand of the woman he loves. Godawa writes characters from thousands of years ago that most of us can relate to these days.

I love this series and this novel in particular is a page turner that challenges one to dig deeper and take a closer look at scripture.
Profile Image for Dr Kathleen.
21 reviews1 follower
May 9, 2024
Action packed, suspenseful and the Old Testament brought to life in a unique way - based on the biblical understanding of Ancient Near East cultures and not through the eyes of ‘modern’ Western interpretation.

Will totally open your understanding to WHY the God of the Bible -Yahweh - commissioned the Israelites to utterly wipe out all men, women, children and animals from the land of Canaan.

Parental Warning: there are ‘adult’ topics happening in this story line including rape, deviant sexual aspects to ancient idol worship including beastiality & human sacrifice, and violence/killing during battle scenes. While the deviant acts are not graphically detailed, the topics are included because these are mentioned in the Old Testament texts. Depending on the maturity level of your child or abuse/trauma one has experienced, the one reading this book should be aware that this storyline is not your traditional Sunday school story in which everything comes out ‘happy.’ The events are portrayed with the horror and realism that evil brings into this world, though the reader is not drawn into the acts like one would be in an explicit sexual/romance novel.

The author skillfully incorporates ANE texts/understanding to the story and brings to life this Old Testament saga in a most suspenseful way! I could not put this down and came away with a deeper understanding of Yahweh’s call to holiness among His people.

The author also includes many references in the appendix regarding Ancient Near East cultural writings, thinking and worldview that the original Bible writers would have understood (that Western modern thinking and Bible translation steers away from).

Looking forward to Book 6 in the Chronicles of the Nephilim!
Profile Image for Linda.
757 reviews18 followers
November 4, 2024
**I'm just tired.**

These books just keep going over my head again and again. I hate to even say this, I'm just not enjoying them. Or more specifically, I'm not enjoying the convoluted nature of them. As with the previous entries, I'm fine with the human aspects, for the most part. They are relatable, and easy (ish) to understand. And I REALLY like the moments when the archangels are in play, particularly Uriel. I can't deny that the imaginative nature of this series is pretty cool.

But the Nephilim and gods' chapters don't resonate with me at ALL, at least not since the first couple of entries. I can't follow them anymore (and I barely did so to begin with), nor do I find myself even wanting to follow. As has become habit, I'm finding myself skimming these chapters like crazy. I'm too often to the point of dreading every paragraph and every page because nothing appeals to me. I'm disconnected and, as I said earlier, just plain tired.

This being said, I keep forcing myself to stick this series out because I'm anxious to reach Jesus' entry, and unfortunately, part of this is no longer true. I've decided to just skip the next two in the series and go straight to the one I've been wanting to read this entire time. Whether or not I'll regret this, I'm not sure. But I'm honestly just ready to move on, and so I might as well jump to the end so I can go ahead and do so.
Profile Image for Shirley Shaffer.
86 reviews1 follower
January 5, 2019
The Battles Abound

I love these books. Brian is giving me quite a well rounded education by combining all his sources into these entertaining books. The scriptures come alive even more knowing the fullness of the back stories that we only glimpse in scripture. I never knew that Rehab ( the woman not the monster) was from the tribe of Benjamin. ( I think I remembered that correctly.) And to learn that all these fantasy stories creatures I grew up hearing about are actual creatures makes more sense than believing someone made them up out of their mind. Especially when they are so prevalent in fantasy.
75 reviews1 follower
January 6, 2020
Fascinating

I would not have liked to live in those times, but reading the headlines today, we are not far different, but at least there are no Nephilim, flying serpents, “gods” demanding child sacrifice....yet? This series has brought the Bible “home” to me, made it so much closer & understandable. Do not pass this series up! It is fascinating, ...& horrible. Thank you God for our salvation.
122 reviews
July 19, 2021
Joshua Valiant (Chronicles of the Nephilim Book 5) by Brian Godawa

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.
Profile Image for aria ✧.
921 reviews155 followers
January 21, 2024
Moses stood before the assembled congregation of Israel’s seventy elders at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. He was well over eighty years old and was weary with the burden of this nation of ingrates.


Moses dealing with the Israelites at the beginning of this book:

description
Profile Image for Nick.
107 reviews
July 30, 2024
Like all of the Chronicles of the Nephilim series, a fun read. It’s neat to see the stories come to life in retelling through a supernatural worldview. Great stories, but great writing. The dialogue continues to be awkward and unnatural, and for some reason Godawa tends to over explain quips and jokes to his audience. Those explanations are unnecessary, kind of insulting to the reader’s intelligence, and disrupt the flow of the story.
58 reviews1 follower
March 29, 2020
Yet another fantastic Chronicles book!

I am loving reading through these Chronicles of the Nephilim. Even though they are fictional, I feel like they are giving me such a clearer picture of how things were in Biblical ancient times, and how everything in the Bible is connected. I can't wait to finish this series and read other Chronicles by Brian Godawa.
Profile Image for Sharon Phelps.
251 reviews1 follower
April 6, 2020
Biblical fiction

Again I am so glad that he puts the comments at the end. I learn so much and increase the enjoyment of the book. I am not saying hogwash that is to fanciful. Instead I am learning and enjoying the bible in new ways. The story is so well written and exciting and just captures my imagination.
Profile Image for Christa Saccullo.
398 reviews4 followers
June 7, 2021
Fun

As a kid, the story of Joshua was one of my all time favorites and I tried picturing what the battles would've been like. This book does a great job drawing a picture if the what Israel would've faced while claiming their inheritance. The angle on Rahab was really fun too.

Christa
2 reviews
Read
December 31, 2023
Awesome readings

Liked the biblical references and feel that they're authentic and feel they were accurately protrade . fun and entertaining series ! How about making movies? Although may be to violent! I shuddered with all the killings of women and children. Scary to read the Bible!! Yet understand why evil needed to be killed.


t
5 reviews
March 4, 2025
This book was just a exciting as the first book of this series. I highly recommend This Series, The Chronicles of The Nephilim. The author does not disappoint. The knowledge that one can gain from reading these books is insurmountable as well as the cross references that he has. Brian Godawa is one talented and spiritual writer. He is now my favorite writer.
119 reviews
July 20, 2018
Great series

I really enjoy reading this as I love biblical history and there isn’t enough imaginative writing to see what it could have been like. I like the idea that it could have happened like this. I definitely recommend. But start at the beginning.
81 reviews
August 3, 2021
Such a good writer...

I love the setting, the characters, everything. The entire thing just transports you there, at least for me anyway. I can't wait to read the rest. It's definitely a set of books you can't stop at one, you have to read them all.
Profile Image for Samuel Cooper.
15 reviews1 follower
March 9, 2022
"Realistic" Biblical Fiction

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.
4 reviews
October 22, 2023
Gripping narrative

Brian Godawa paints an Epic story based on Biblical references. We don't know the details and personalities of the great Biblical figures. These series of stories offer some fascinating fictional accounts. Well written and the books are hard to put down.
8 reviews
January 21, 2018
Interesting !

This is a history lesson inside the story. The Giants and biblical creatures are well described and use biblical text to add to the story.
Profile Image for Raul Marrero Sauveterre.
29 reviews11 followers
October 12, 2018
I couldn't put itdown.

This series was well researched and the action keeps you hanging at the edge of your seat. I will read the whole series.
Profile Image for Elijah Toppo.
2 reviews2 followers
August 12, 2020
Superb narration

I love Brian's writing style. Especially how he incorporates scholarly material and makes it accessible to common readers. Thank you so much.
Profile Image for William Beck.
75 reviews10 followers
February 19, 2021
Fast moving action

Godawa's work moves quickly and is always action packed. He once again brings an epic story and strong biblical theology together in the story of Joshua.
43 reviews1 follower
March 30, 2022
Read his books

An absolute read for anyone. all of brian godawas books are fantastically great and we'll researched. He must be one great scholar
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews

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