What Was Lost: The Chronicles of Japheth: Book I

By Steven J. Byers

An epic story of Japheth's adventures as he faces the worst catastrophe in the history of the world-a time when taking a stand means risking everything and failure could spell the doom of mankind. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0741426544
• ISBN13: 9780741426543
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: Infinity Publishing (PA)
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Life in the time of the flood as seen through the eyes of one of Noah's sons

Bible scholars have figured there was about two-thousand years between the time of Creation and the Flood. Now try to encapsulate that much history into one small chapter of a book and you realize how much you miss. The Bible never gives a lot of detail on the wickedness of that time other than to tell us it was so bad God was sorry He created man in the first place. It was time to cleanse the evil of the earth-but one man found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The story of Noah and the Ark is a familiar one. But while many people have thought about life as the man building the ark, Steven J. Byers has taken an interesting turn by looking at it through the eyes of one of Noah's sons, Japheth. Since we don't have much information about the pre-diluvian world, Byers does an admirable job of creating a world populated by people both good and exceptionally bad. Also, aspects of life back then we never consider are built upon nicely. What would it have been like to live over nine-hundred years? How would people react to a doomsday message of a flood when it had never rained before in history (the Bible mentions the plants were watered by dew and springs from the ground)? One of the more interesting considerations comes from Eden itself: what if you could actually go and see that garden, with the angel still standing guard at its door? Byers does a great job with many scenes. The initial start of building the ark, with all its considerations (how to move the logs, where to find the wood, etc) is something we rarely think about. The rising tide of anger among the people as the "madman" Noah continues to build his boat miles away from any water, and their opposition to his message of doom builds nicely. And his description of that final scene of mankind as the floodgates of heaven are opened and the rain begins to pour down is poignant. Watching through Japheth's eyes as his world and friends disappear beneath the water lends to fascinating considerations. There are a couple of things that will probably give some people problems. First, the book is huge (almost 500 pages). There was a lot of room for trimming a few scenes here and there. Another possible stumbling block is the talking animals. Byers uses Eve's confrontation with the serpent in the Garden of Eden as his basis for this. She never seemed surprised when the serpent spoke to her, and she even carried on a normal conversation with it. This gives credence to the theory the animals may have at one time been capable of speech. A catfish named "Whiskers" does most of the talking here, and I couldn't help but feel it pulled some of the seriousness out of the story and made it seem like a Disney cartoon at times-even though it sounded more like Tarzan than Nemo. But this is a minor grievance. For the most part, this book is a great glimpse into a world we hardly consider. Byers ends the book during the final moments of the Flood, so Book 2 will probably take us through the months spent on