Noah: The Official Movie Novelization

by Mark Morris

ONE MAN’S QUEST TO SAVE MANKINDWhen he has a vision about a flood sent to destroy all life on earth, Noah knows what he must do. Together with his family, he must save two of every living animal. He must build an ark. Noah has to evade the many dangers that would see him fail and leave the world to ruin, and overcome his own struggles to fulfill his mission. This is the epic story of one man’s attempt to preserve life for a new world.

Genres: Fantasy

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Mark Morris became a full-time writer in 1988 on the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, and a year later saw the release of his first novel, Toady. He has since published a further sixteen novels, among which are Stitch, The Immaculate, The Secret of Anatomy, Fiddleback, The Deluge and four books in the popular Doctor Who range.

His short stories, novellas, articles and reviews have appeared in a wide variety of anthologies and magazines, and he is editor of the highly-acclaimed Cinema Macabre, a book of fifty horror movie essays by genre luminaries, for which he won the 2007 British Fantasy Award.

His most recently published or forthcoming work includes a novella entitled It Sustains for Earthling Publications, a Torchwood novel entitled Bay of the Dead, several Doctor Who audios for Big Finish Productions, a follow-up volume to Cinema Macabre entitled Cinema Futura and a new short story collection, Long Shadows, Nightmare Light.

Reviews

[Cape Rust · Rating 1 out of 5]

Noah, or, Bearded Captain Planet Helps the Creator Kill Everyone who Eats Meat

by Cape Rust · Apr 8, 2014




Noah: The Official Movie Novelization by Mark Morris

Genere(s): Fiction…
Publisher: Titan Books
Availability: Paperback, eBook
Description: When he has a vision about a flood sent to destroy all life on earth, Noah knows what he must do. Together with his family, he must save two of every living animal. He must build an ark. Noah has to evade the many dangers that would see him fail and leave the world to ruin, and overcome his own struggles to fulfill his mission. This is the epic story of one man’s attempt to preserve life for a new world.

Disclaimer: Titan Books provided a review copy of this book. I was under no obligation to any deity to write this review, but at times I did wish for divine inspiration to actually finish the book…

When reviewing a book like this, you always have to include a few caveats. First, I am a practicing Christian; however, my faith is not what made me loathe this book. Second, most of my observations about inconsistencies in this book are based on historical evidence from the time that this story might have occurred. Having said that, let’s begin.



In the years I’ve spent reviewing books, this was one of the worst books I have read and had to review. In fact, I’m eating bacon right now as I review this, knowing full and well that because I’m eating meat, I will be the reason the earth will flood again — because according to this book, that is what makes mankind so evil and worthy of complete extinction.



I will start with what is good about this book (don’t worry it won’t take long). Titan Books has published plenty of novelizations of movies, and the ones I have reviewed have actually been pretty good. I was going to avoid Pacific Rim until I read the novelization they published. I would have missed out on a good book and a really fun movie. The cover art for Noah looks great; it made me think of the story of Noah that I was raised on. Sure, I don’t remember him brandishing a spear, but we are dealing with Hollywood, so I kept an open mind. Author Mike Morris has several novelizations under his belt, and he is a good writer. It is never easy to take another writer’s material, that is designed to make a movie from, and to turn it into a novel. Under normal circumstances, those elements alone would at least give a book a fighting chance — but even under the wing of Titan Books and with Mike Morris at the helm, this story is so horrendous not even those two steadfast factors could save it.



Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel– the original screen writers for this story — should have a very special place in Hell reserved for them. I really don’t care which kind of hell your intellect or faith dictates, just as long as it is a horrible place where people suffer. This story was so bad; there is no way someone can say that the book was better than the movie. Because of this abomination I am tempted to see the movie, but I have a feeling that might be the Last Temptation of Cape. I grew up knowing the story of Noah, just like I grew up reading The Lord of the Rings books. With the deluge of movies based on beloved book series, there will be some expectations, and those movies will have to deviate from the original story. Normally, as a reader who watches movies, I can forgive those inconsistencies, but with Noah, just DAMN!



I can acknowledge Aronofskys’ choice to not eat meat. I can respect the fact that he believes in saving the earth, but this story read more like a manifesto of the propaganda cell of a militant human-hating vegan environmentalist terrorist organization. Based on this story, the main reason that mankind is so horrible is because we eat meat. Every time someone eats meat in this story, something bad is happening or is going to happen. This happened so often and was so blatant that halfway through the book I wanted go hunting just to spite Aronofsky — and I am not a hunter. The people who wrote this screenplay give off the impression that all meat-eating humans are horrible, wasteful beings that are destroy everything — and I mean everything — around them, while they rape each other and children. Based on the impressions I got from this story, the only people who really deserve to live are Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel; but then who would go out and waste their hard earned money on the crap that they are presenting the public?



If the “Anyone who eats meat will rape their children and rot in hell” aspect wasn’t enough to make you put this book down, then let me point out a few other “gems” that might. This is a work of fiction, I get that, but when you call a movie Noah, those nasty little things called expectations come into play. Have you ever heard of an element that falls from the sky that: can act as a form of currency; start fires; can be used as the ammunition for mortar type weapons; and has fumes that will knock out all the creatures on the ark so that they not only sleep through the entire rain storm, but even through hand-to-hand combat that involves a warlord and a surprisingly savvy vegan non-warrior ark builder being shoved into them?



Strip mining was a thing when this story was supposed to happen right? Yeah, I didn’t think so either… But the “magical” substance that fell from the sky enabled the meat eating, child-raping evil humans to strip mine the planet, sure why not? Speaking of the planet: in the meat-is-murder and Noah is Captain Planet version of the story, the planet is a wasteland that alternates between barren and rocky. Based on what I read, minus the mountains, the only other thing left were cites — which were teeming with those evil meat-eating men. If this had been billed as a post-apocalyptic version of Noah, then things like backpacks, barbed wire and even strip mining might have made more sense, but at no point was that brought up.



Now if all of that wasn’t enough, how about some six-armed giants called Watchers? These six-armed behemoths are made of stone, mud and other earthy-type stuff. They fell from the skies, but fell so hard that they were covered in the earth and their true forms are hidden beneath their rough exteriors. Lucky for Noah, he meets these Watchers because, after he tries to kill one of them and then they try to kill him, they end up helping him make the ark — with surprisingly few questions. The Watchers claim that the Creator (that is what whatever or whomever created the world is called) won’t speak to them anymore. Then, later in the book, when the child raping, slave-driving, evil, dirty, nasty, meat eaters (men) attack the ark, the Watchers defend it. The big problem is that those child-raping, slave-driving, evil, dirty, nasty, meat eaters took enough time to develop a mortar-like energy weapon that uses the Tzohar to fire deadly and destructive “Lazer” balls at the Watchers. I’m not kidding; this is actually in a book that was supposed to take place in the B.C.E. times.



There are many, many more issues that I could bring up about this story, but I think you’ve got the idea by now. Titan has actually published an OK book; the problem is with the story, and poor Mark Morris didn’t have a chance. The story that is printed on the pages of this book is so bad, I wouldn’t use it to wipe myself with, for fear it would give me hemorrhoids.
Note: this review was first posted at www.popcults.com

[MySmallReadingCorner · Rating 2 out of 5]

2,5 stars
Let me start this book by saying that I am not religious, maybe my rating would’ve been higher if I was.
I found this book for a very low price a few years ago and I knew about the movie, so I decided to pick it up. As a child I remember being interest in the ark of Noah (or just the Playmobil version) but I didn’t always enjoy this book. The book was really slow at times and after a while the character started to annoy me at times.

[Nobody Loser · Rating 4 out of 5]

Movie lovers and legend lovers: recently Titan Books contacted us about reviewing Noah, the novel adaptation of the new film about the legendary biblical story. Noah is the man credited with the re-initiation of human life and the saving of animal life during the great flood that destroyed almost all life on Earth. I'm happy to say it was definitely decent, as far as action and fiction goes, though it was hard for me to relate to. Presumably everyone sees the injustice in human existence, but it would be awfully hard to find sympathy for Noah's cause considering he hardly seems sane most of the time.

Probably more than anything else that stands out about the literary adaptation of the film is the fact that Noah seems to have a tainted idea of justice, unless you take the story of Abraham and Isaac into account. If most of you will remember, Abraham drags Isaac up the mountain intending to sacrifice him simply because the Lord requests it of him. Doing as the Lord tells him, he raises the sacrificial knife and is about to strike it down on Isaac when an angel grabs his arm and stays the knife. It was just a test. Noah's task in this movie and in the Bible, however, is not a test. Apparently, Noah will cause himself to witness anything to harden himself so he can watch his species die off. My issue with it was that there was no "God said…." His actions were strictly based on his interpretation of visions.

From the beginning, Noah seems to favor the four-legged beasts over humans—humans that eat meat, that is. It sort of draws on the idea that man was meant to be an herbivore, but that the nurturing of evil has caused them to crave meat, to explain a small percentage of the violence of man described in the Bible and the reason for the cleansing. He sets out to build an arc to save two of every animal species because of his visions, but with each step he takes, there is a new obstacle. It plays on the well-known name of Cain, giving a man in Cain's future line a bigger part than he played in the Bible. An interesting fact in my own Bible was that Tubal-Cain's proclaiming that if Cain was cursed for killing Abel, surely Tubal-Cain would be cursed tenfold. It adds a unique possibility to the movie: Tubal-Cain's antisocial personality and his survival of the flood. The bible doesn't strictly say that most of this didn't happen.

Interestingly enough, Methuselah's part in this film seems a bit more prominent than it is in the Bible itself. In the original story, his part is mentioned strictly as the next in the bloodline after Enoch, who begat Lamech, who then begat Noah. Depending on what other religious books you've studied, though, or other media interpretations, you might remember Methuselah playing a larger part, having a relationship with Enoch, ministering to the people with Noah to convince them to change their ways, etc. Enoch, Methuselah's father, was so absolutely pure that he simply was taken into Heaven, and in the movie, Methuselah is renowned as a great and legendary warrior—a protector of the fallen angels.

The problem with Methuselah is not the fictional, or possibly even true, account of his wars waged, but the fact that the angels on Earth even exist. Most interpretations of the bible account for giants and great warriors, which are both pointed out whether you consider Methuselah, Tubal-Cain, or both as great warriors. As a young man, I remember reading Genesis and studying it. It is, after all, along with the first few books of the Bible the least realistic and possibly the hardest to gain an understanding of. Some interpretations, though—and the way I grew up understanding it—was that angels took human wives, breeding and creating giants, whom tended to be massive, violent warriors with generally shifty, uncontrollable moods. That understanding led me to almost instantly reject the fantasy of giants being present during the creation of man, which is how the book's author wrote his fantasy interpretation. Personally, though, the story of Methuselah struck me as unique and fun.

Another inconsistency was with Noah's children's ages. The bible places them as already in their hundreds and two-hundreds, while the movie places them in their teens and lower. Aside from that, you won't find enough evidence in the Bible to discount everything that happens in the film. For all I know, it all happened.

The reason for my critique has been this: I recently read many articles with complaints about accuracy. I also read many articles concerning the banning of this film in certain countries. I wouldn't call it historically accurate (as the Bible tells it), but then again, neither would I call the Bible accurate. The news hype and hatred surrounding this film seems unwarranted. In fact, if it didn't so heavily take from a biblical story, I might say it makes a pretty good fantasy piece. In closing, I hate Noah as a person, but I enjoyed the Noah religious fantasy story and I thought it was quite brilliant. There's going to be plenty of action and there's going to be many questionable moments, but this twist from the everyday understanding of the interpretations makes for a definitely great film novelization.

A http://www.fanboysanonymous.com/ review

[Pam Brittain · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very disappointed with this book. The story of Noah is one of obedience, trust, redemption and the promise of new beginnings. This missed the mark on all accounts, in my opinion.

[Angel Serrano · Rating 2 out of 5]

La historia bíblica del arca de Noé fue llevada al cine por Paramount Pictures. Esta es la versión novelada de la película, donde se nos muestran criaturas fantásticas, intervenciones divinas y un Noé atormentado y fanático contra el mundo y contra su familia.

[S.Q. Eries · Rating 2 out of 5]

In summary

Not surprisingly, Noah takes liberties with the original biblical account. The addition of gross environmental destruction to mankind’s corruption provides an interesting vision of the antediluvian world, but the underlying premise that violence against animals and ecosystem is man’s greatest evil is a bit harder to swallow. While Noah does stand apart from the rest of fallen humanity, his own misanthropic self-righteousness make him a less than inspiring figure.

The review

The story of Noah’s ark is often showcased in Children’s Bibles and storybooks, but when you really think about it, it’s not a G rated story. Mankind so corrupt and evil as to induce its Creator to wipe it out? Destruction so absolute the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami look like nothing in comparison? That’s hardly kiddie fare.

Indeed it’s a bleak world Morris lays out in his novel adaption of the recently released Noah movie (which, by the way, I have not yet seen). With the exception of Noah’s family and bad guy Tubal-Cain, humanity seems incapable of rational thought, let alone compassion. Their squalor, desperation, and hopelessness make this antediluvian past look more like an apocalyptic future. That atmosphere is heightened by environmental destruction on a massive scale. For Noah’s contemporaries, tzohar is the all-purpose energy source. It sparks fire, blows apart rocks, put animals into hibernation, and comprises the bodies of fallen heavenly beings. Of course, extracting it comes at a price, and the descriptions of polluted lands and denuded forests are a not so subtle commentary on our present-day efforts to secure energy.

Of course, our leading man Noah stands for everything corrupt humanity is not. Unfortunately, he comes off more as an uber-militant vegan than God’s agent of change. In the second chapter, he defends an animal from three starving hunters. He kills the men without compunction but gives the mortally wounded animal a funeral. For Noah, killing and eating animals is a worse crime than murder. It’s ironic that the back cover touts the story as “One man’s quest to save mankind.” When he realizes that a flood is coming, his concern is solely for the animals, forget about his fellow man.

Noah’s point of view is somewhat understandable at first given his father’s tragic end, but he becomes increasingly unsympathetic as the story progresses. In the biblical account, God speaks to Noah in almost painfully detailed terms, but in this novel he’s silent. The only communications Noah receives are nightmarish prophetic visions. However, none of these visions are so specific as to say, “The ark must have these dimensions,” or “Bring two of each animal,” and Noah’s inclination is to use the harshest interpretation possible. He’s all divine wrath and judgment, and while he goes on (and on and on) about humanity’s evils, he hypocritically withholds mercy from even the members of his family.

As for those family members, they’re a rather flat bunch. Ham is the strongest personality, but he acts and speaks more like an eight-year-old than a fifteen-year-old. Japheth has hardly any presence, and Shem’s only purpose is to be Ila’s husband. As for Ila, she, not Noah, seems to be the remaining righteous person in the world, but she’s too much a victim, just as Ham is too overtly the family’s rebel.

Perhaps to make up for its less than compelling character development, the novel’s packed with action. As if a planetwide flood wasn’t epic enough, the story includes a battle for the ark, followed by fistfights at sea. Unfortunately, while ruthless warlords, tzohar pipe guns, six-armed stone giants, and the worst storm ever probably serve up a visual feast when rendered in CG, it gets a bit tedious and repetitive in print.

For more manga and book reviews, drop by my blog Keeping It In Canon!

[Luis · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a novelisation this one was pretty good. It follows the movie closely and does what I look for in novelisations: give you more story and character insight, though not much more since the book is rather short. The story really emphasises the weigh put on Noah's shoulders who is tasked with nothing less than saving creation from the flood as well as the burden that his family has to bare as they faithfully follow and support him in building the Ark. The wickedness of humanity is also stressed as they descend into warfare, sin and even cannibalism so as to justify their extinction.
Yes, it's true this is not The Bible's Noah but it was refreshing for someone to take a fresh look at this story and give us an exiting adventure. Recommended if you like novelisations.

[Deborah Foulkes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted this to be good. One because Mark Morris is a local man. Two its about Noah and Three I needed to read something a little easy going.
I rarely read anything that's based on a film, because it doesn't really appeal, but I thought why not.
Now I feel bad to say it bored me to tears. I wanted so much more and I wish Morris had just written his own version and gone with that. There's a great story to tell here, but this didn't hit the right notes

[Malori · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fantastic novel. I have never read a movie novelization before and I am happy to announce, although weary at first, this was a wonderful read. There were definitely some tears shed and some gasps and it was very tragic. I find that it told Noah's story well in a dramatization of the bible story. I know although these events didn't actually occur I can't help but feel like "oh my goodness... This could have happened". It just felt real. I can't wait to watch the movie. Great job Mark!!

[Patrick Scattergood · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the movie dividing cinema goers left, right and centre, I have to admit that I wasn't all that sure about whether the actual novel would grip me.

Come check out the review and see if Mark Morris has crafted a new spin on an old tale?

http://curiosityofasocialmisfit.blogs...

[Becky Hardesty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I understand this may or may not have been historically correct, but it was a great story. Don't know how I'd feel if I felt God had given me the task, but the story teller gave you a clear understanding of how Noah could have reacted and pursued his faith.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this dramatized version of the story of Noah and the ark! I definitely want to see the movie after reading this. If you don't mind a little bit of Hollywood drama added to an already great bible story - you will enjoy this version!

[Edwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best wel okay. Boek naar aanleiding van de gelijknamige film, en losjes gebaseerd op het Bijbel-verhaal. Niet echt hoogdravend, maar gewoon iets om eens gezellig te lezen. Grotendeels in de trein gelezen.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this well written and an enjoyable retelling of the story presented by aronofsky in the film. I view the film and novel as a fantasy, and find the world building enjoyable. The graphic novel adaption is excellent.

[Kristin Dowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT! I'll be reading it again soon!!

[Aidina Ousley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. I can't wait to see the movie. I do feel that it's not totally consistent with the bible but it's a good read

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

good

[Dustin Overschmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book started out kind of slow in the first chapter, I found myself not very interested. But after that the book got better rather quickly, to the point that I didn't want to put the book down.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very grim and gritty version of the Bible story. I liked the first half leading up to the Great Flood but the second half seemed to drag on.

[Tay Spalding · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️

[Katherine Reyes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very different. Not quite sure how I felt about the storyline