PROOF by Ted D. Berner Delves into Genesis 6:4

"In The Beginning God created the heaven and the earth." This was probably the most famous opening sentence in any book ever written, Ty Larson thought. He read on, most of the next few verses echoed familiarity from the first time he'd read the Bible back in high school. Then, all of a sudden, there is was... a few short sentences in Genesis chapter six that were going to change his life forever:

And it came to past, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the songs of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they have children to them, the same became might men which were of old, men of renown....

"Well Father, I must admit that I haven't read the Bible for some time now, but I began to read it again the other day and I cam across something that was rather puzzling..." Ty open the Bible he'd brought with him. "I was only a few pages into it, and here in Genesis, chapter six, where it says--"
Before he could finish, Father Mac interrupted, "And you were wondering about the Sons of God?..."

"Oh! Deacon, it's you," Ty explained in surprise. "I'm sorry, did I forget something?"
The look on the deacon's face was stern. "The book of Enoch!"
Ty was at a loss for words and utterly puzzled. The deacon kept a firm grasp on Ty's jacket as he repeated himself, "The book of Enoch! In there you will find the names of the ones you seek."
"Names? Of the Sethites and Cainites?" Ty was more than a little confused now.
"No!" the deacon demanded, almost seeming upset. "This is one thing Father Mac and I disagree on. Read the book of Enoch!" The deacon let go of the jacket and disappeared down the stairs, as silently as he had come.
Ty stood there frozen, wondering what the hell had just happened. The Book of Enoch? He remembered just reading about Enoch in Genesis, but there were only a few sentences at most, and he didn't remember any such book in the Bible...

~~~

Ty Larson had taken an archaeology class as the best option for finishing his degree. In considering what his paper was to be about, he had come across Genesis 6 and, the words had sunk in, so much so, that he became puzzled over the words' meaning. He had been raised to believe the Bible was fact, sooo?

Who were these giants? Who were the sons of God that took human wives? His degree was in Criminal Justice, yet this class in archaeology, taught by an excellent Professor Eisenberg, had gained his full attention. The assignment was an end-of-the-semester paper regarding Biblical links to the ancient megalithic structures scattered across the globe. And the student writing the best paper would travel with Professor Eisenberg on his next trip!

I greatly enjoyed how Ty, being the main character, began his research, so that readers feel as if they are on the same search, including having no idea what that search would lead to. Ty began with the Priest at the church he had once attended to learn more about Genesis 6. He didn't learn too much new information, until a deacon at the church, who knew why he was there, stopped him and told him he disagreed with the common interpretation and referred, actually almost demanded, that he investigate the Book of Enoch to learn what he wanted to know... I must say that there was enough in Berner's book to make me interested enough to buy that book which was, for whatever reason, not included in today's Bible...

Remembering Enoch from the Bible, Ty first refreshed his memory of those passages. For instance, in Hebrews 11:5, he read: By faith Enoch was translated that he did not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Ty thought how confusing the Bible could be and realized how people could spend so much time studying it, but the little he'd read so far, made it sound like Enoch must've been very important...

...The first few paragraphs talked about who Enoch was: the seventh from Adam and the great grandfather of Noah.
Ty realized with a sense of awe just how long ago the events he was contemplating had taken place...If seemed the deeper he delved into this, the more muddled everything became...The first few chapters of Enoch seemed to be a vision that revealed, among other things, an impending destruction of life on earth: "all shall be afraid, and the Watchers be terrified." This was the first he'd heard of the Watchers. Who were they? Ty read on, then he came to something that sound very familiar: It happened after the sons of men had multiplied in those days, that daughters were born to them, elegant and beautiful. And when the angels, the sons of heaven, beheld them, they became enamored of them, saying to each other. Come, let us select for ourselves wives from the progeny of men, and let us beget children.
He was stunned. This seemed to reiterate what he'd just read in Genesis, almost verbatim. The Sons of God taking daughters of men, and having children?
...It took Ty a second to digest what he was reading. This sounded incredible! It was definitely not the view Father Mac held. This was, literally, angels procreating with human women and producing children...giants, no less--just as the few short sentences in Genesis had so briefly mentioned. Why had this not been elaborated on in the Bible?...

~~~

I was soon totally hooked into Ty's investigation and, already, was seeing the potential connection between giants occupying earth and the megalithic structures. Ty was moving toward the hypothesis that would begin his class paper!

At the same time, readers will be able to pick up clues that Ty's activities was stirring interest beyond his classroom. Fortunately, Ty had discussed his research with his father, who was a CIA Agent, who Ty planned to follow after finishing his degree. Soon people started following Ty, and his father had arranged to have Ty guarded...What was being discovered had warranted more interest than first realized...

Amazingly, what Berner presents from his research sounds logical, even within this fictional novel, even if I was sad to see the turn that moved the story into an entirely different and later part of history. That was mainly because I had read more about the connection discovered later when they were working to discover who was creating danger for Ty.

On the other hand, as the book ended, I was totally in tune with the "why," the "what," and the "how" that resulted in the unique cover to the book. There is reference to a possible sequel; however, I felt that his novel easily stands on its own even if another book is planned. Although I admit to curiosity about what might come...

I was attracted to the book because of the title and Biblical reference. Historical scholars, I believe, will be intrigued with the connective research traced from the beginning of time into our recent past. For those, like me, who enjoy Alternative History stories, this just might be a must-read for you. It certainly pulls in new material: one Bible reference, plus a few others and satisfactorily proposes an alternative history for some of the mysteries that still exist in today's world...

I found the continuity of the research, the investigation, and the presentation to be comparable to scientific investigations that routinely go on across the world. The author points out that none of the material presented was "imagined" by him but came from already documented legends, folklore and non-character related individuals. His work to merge all of these earlier known "facts or fiction" into an exciting adventure into our past, is impressive in my opinion. And certainly worthy of your consideration!

GABixlerReviews

Ted Berner grew up in the Mountains of Montana where he and his wife currently live on a ranch with several four-legged furry friends. Besides raising horses and Bernese Mountain Dogs, Berner is also an airline pilot and spends a few hours each week traveling around the country at thirty-five thousand feet.

Ted started his writing career in 2010 when he became fascinated with a mysterious civilization that is only briefly mentioned in the Bible. The topic of the Nephilim, the giants from the Bible, is such an intriguing subject that Berner has been a guest speaker on several shows, including Caravan to Midnight with John B. Wells and Late Night in the Midlands with Michael Vara.

Becket Brings A New Genre, Steampunk Sorcery, What A Tale!

Wow! Check out the Whole Cast of Goblins!

in

Good The Goblin Queen

By Becket

Illustrations by Raven Quinn

The pots, the pots,
it's the Pots and Pans Parade
We prance, we dance
like ants in pants
in the Pots and Pans Parade!
~~~

This is a silly book! It has lots of silly words! And pretty soon, you will begin to feel silly too, wouldn't you? Because there are lots of silly thoughts! And lots of silly rhymes... How could you help but begin to act silly too?! Say, for instance, little Good's parents... welllll, adoptive parents that is...

OK, you might not think of a little girl having orangutans for parents, but, when I did, in fact I thought it was...silly...

Good was never allowed
to cook anything if it did
not have banana in it.
She had to make banana
soup, banana stew,
banana bread, banana
butter, banana applesauce
banana salad, banana
sandwiches, banana
meatloaf, banana mashed
potatoes, banana ice cream
...(get the idea!)

Now, you see, Good was not a little baby orangutan because that would have been fine...Instead, Good was a little girl, just like you and I once were! In fact, when Good was reading this story, she started laughing and said "that's silly!" Good decided one day, that her life was not good at all!

The first reason for this decision was because her mom and dad had named her Good. She did not want to be called "bad." but she never liked being called Good either. It was not a normal name. She would have rather been called another lovely name, like Ginny,...People were always misunderstanding her. "What's your name?" they would ask and she would reply, "I'm Good." And they would think that she was not very smart because good is usually how someone feels, never what you're named...

What a silly life!

...there were always large piles of
bananas all over the place...There
were bananas in the kitchen,
bananas in the living room,
bananas in the bothroom and in
Good's bedroom. She had to sleep
on a pile of bananas and her pillow
was a bag of banana peels. The
more her mom taste-tested bananas
the more banana peels carpeted the
floor. Good was always slipping on
them and dropping her books.
And she was never allowed to
clean the house either. Her mom
and dad liked everything being in
a specific order, which meant that
there was no order whatsoever!

I told you this was a silly book. Good also had two other reasons for not liking her life. You'll find out about those when you read this fun book!

Can you imagine that where they lived everybody thought they were a regular family?! And her father had even become President of the country! Her mom had a job as a banana tester and was able to keep the family completely in bananas to the delight of everybody, but...Good...

And then one night Good sneaked out of the tree house and dug up her box of books--she couldn't leave them in her room because her mom or dad would eat them! She read that night a story about a Goblin Queen and then, looking up, she saw bright shooting stars and wished upon each one!

No one ever thought of Good as a good girl. They never thoughts of her as bad either. In fact, she was so ignored by so many people that no one really ever thought of her. She went to school and had no friends. She came home and had no friends. She walked around the neighborhood or the park or the beach and she still had no friends. But one day she started to change. And then she was noticed, not by people, but by a troop of goblins marching by in the Pots and Pans Parade!

~~~

First she met an elderly ghost named Mr. Fuddlebee...

who appears below in glasses and a derby...

And before Good knew it, she had turned green!

And, of course, the Goblin Band sang loud and free--

They knew right away that Good was their Queen!

Then the goblins lined up before Good and bowed so low to the ground that they all lost their balance and fell over. They got back to their feet after they fought with one another about who had lost their balance first. Finally, they stood once more in a line before her like soldiers at attention.
They saluted her by punching themselves in the face.
A short one spoke up. "All hail, Our Pie-ness."
"No," the tallest one hissed at him. "Not pie-ness. High-ness. Your highness is how you address the Queen."
"Maybe she has some pies," the first replied.
"I like mud pies," said a third.
"She doesn't look that high to me," said a fourth.
"Maybe it's cry-ness," a fifth goblin said. "She looks like a weeper."
"Did you say she's a keeper?" said a sixth. "I think we could throw her back and get another."
"We could keep her toes and throw away the rest," said not the seventh who was silent, but one of the others.
Then the tallest goblin, who had a long sword and was wearing the heaviest armor, stepped forward and silenced the other six.
He took out an old photograph, crept closer to Good, and held the photograph beside her face. The other six goblins looked at it and then they all nodded together, saying among themselves, "Yes, yes, they do look a lot alike."
Good studied the photograph too. She was surprised to see a girl who looked exactly like her, not the way she had been before she made the wish, but the way she was now, looking a little too much like these goblins. The girl in the photograph had a tall black crown, a long black dress, red eyes and lips, and she clearly very green skin.
"My fellow goblins," said the tall goblin beside her. "I believe we have finally found our long lost queen..."
!!!

Well, I must tell you that once Good realized what had happened, and the Goblins had declared her their Queen, why the story turns around totally! It's no longer silly--okay, maybe a little! Because, of course, Goblins are not silly, are they? But it was very hard to get used to all her new friends and followers... And, now, they had a very long way to go to get to their home and introduce the Queen to her kingdom!

And it wasn't going to be exactly an easy trip to get there!

They went through a Hollow Tree...Down a long Hallway...into the Hall of Countless Doors...Entered The Dream Kingdom...Chocolate Heaven!...and on to Nightmare Hollow...and they still weren't there! But each of these are the chapter titles of what you'll be reading... In all there are 35 chapters for those middle-grade children--and adults if you're like me--to enjoy! 

And Good the Goblin Queen proved to be both a wise and kind queen, even when faced with a giant coming into her Kingdom, she knew exactly what to do. All of the members of her kingdom knew what a wonderful Queen they had and all readers will see how they, too, can become wise yet kind when dealing with difficult situations!

One final thought--this is a new genre for me and may be for other adults. It's called Steampunk Sorcery... What it seemed to me to be was a way to be wildly imaginative and cross-genre...which it indeed was... But the majority of the novel was, to me, an old-fashioned fairy tale... In fact, I had a few thoughts about Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as it related to the motley Pots and Pan crew.  Sure, the silly part up front will get your children interested, but, the basic story of Good the Goblin Queen is traditional, with the usual moral to the story, or, in this case, a number of individual, smaller stories... So, if you worry when you see this title, let me assure you that the material is entirely suitable for middle grade and above. After all, we all need to be a little silly, right?!

Highly recommended!


GABixlerReviews

Becket is the personal assistant to international best-selling author ANNE RICE. He has a BA in music composition, an MA in systematic theology, and an MS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology. He has been working for Ms. Rice since 2005, and he has spent that time learning from her the craft of writing.
You can find out more about him at www.becket.me