Today, I am spotlighting novelist, Brennan McPherson. I discovered Brennan when he was marketing his debut novel, Cain: The Story of the First Murder and the Birth of an Unstoppable Evil (The Fall of Man Book 1) in March, 2016. Now Brennan is about to release book 2 in this series, The Flood. I reached out to him to help promote this release and showcase this series.
So sit back and explore Brennan's novels and some of the background to it. But first, a little about Brennan himself:
So sit back and explore Brennan's novels and some of the background to it. But first, a little about Brennan himself:
BRENNAN S. MCPHERSON writes dark biblical fiction with a fantasy twist that puts flesh on some of the most well-recognized characters of all time. Brennan is married to his best friend, has the coolest daughter in the world (even if she can’t talk yet), and blogs frequently at brennanmcpherson.com.
Now let's look at The Flood which will be released on Amazon on November 8th in Kindle format and paperback:
A visionary retelling of the story of the worldwide flood. . .
Nearly two thousand years after Adam and Eve eat death into existence, the flavor still echoes in their descendants' tongues. War is sweeping the world from the iron throne of a man who calls himself the God-King. Caught in the crucible is a young family broken by loss and carried along by the prophecies spoken over the infant boy who fits in their hands.
Will little Noah grow to be the savior the world needs? Or will bending his bow come easier than bending his knee to the God who holds his destiny?
Beginning before Noah is born and continuing on until the world is washed clean, Flood is a stunning story about family and forgiveness in a world filled with pain.
Brennan states why he wrote The Flood:
To show one potential scenario in which God sending the flood could be seen as truly merciful. I have friends who turned away from the faith because their imaginations couldn’t conjure a single scenario in which God could be seen as merciful for sending the flood. So I applied my imagination to conjure one such scenario. God will never fit within our understanding. Once we think we have him figured out, he defies us. He demands that we engage him not just with our rational mind, but with our whole person (spirit, emotions, imagination, etc.). Fantasy literature is a personal letter to the rational mind that says, “Hey, I know you think you got this covered, but you don’t. Leave some space for the imagination, because God’s beyond even that.”
The Flood has Endorsements from two successful authors:
“Flood is a supernatural journey into a world that is only evil all the time and must be saved by God’s merciful judgment. A soul-searching, heart-rending, deeply-satisfying story. McPherson taps our imaginations to consider what Noah, his family, and their lives might have been like before the Flood. Many of my questions about Genesis 5-9 now have a place to rest in this well-researched fiction.
–Mesu Andrews, ECPA Book of the Year award-winning author of Love Amid Ashes and Miriam”
“A tale as enjoyable as it is immersive. With Flood, Brennan McPherson proves himself worthy of telling a story as old as time in a bold and fresh way.”
– Billy Coffey, author of When Mockingbirds Sing
I asked Brennan to include an excerpt of his choice and the reason he chose it:
I chose the following excerpt (the Prologue) because it introduces the story—it’s written from an omniscient POV but the rest of the book is limited third person perspective, which means a much more personal read that what’s portrayed here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Start Excerpt~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROLOGUE
At the dawn of Time were Three who were One. Creator, Spirit, and Word.
As the Spirit hovered over the formless waters, the Creator stretched out his hand, bidding the Word to begin an eternal Music that brought light and form to the universe.
Empty space shifted and became solid. Matter rose green from the elements, and the Spirit breathed into the green matter life but not awareness, and ordained that it should bear seed and spread across the earth suspended in the darkness amidst countless masses of flame and shadow.
Afterward, the Creator brought forth creatures not bound by root and soil. They held awareness but lacked will. Governed by the personalities imbued, they spread and multiplied.
The lights were divided, as were the waters, and the seasons. The earth crawled with life given dimension amidst light and shadow. Dew condensed and fell, sprinkling the ground with the scent of life. And the Creator saw that it was good.
But the Creator’s vision was yet incomplete, for the most beautiful themes of the Music still roamed the halls of Timelessness. So the Creator descended and walked the fields, gazing at all he had done in so short a span of Time.
He dipped, grabbed a handful of soil, and said to the Word and the Spirit, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over all living things.” So the Creator made man and woman in his image, and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, subdue the world and have dominion.”
But the man and woman were not satisfied with dominion. They wanted to transcend the boundaries the Creator constructed for them.
They grasped fruit too high for their arms to reach and ate what they should not have eaten. They became aware of a second Music, of darkness amidst the Light, and they aligned themselves with that second Music, and death entered their forms.
However, even this faltering of steps was planned in the first Music that would sweep up the faltering into a melody more beautiful than any other. The Creator told the man and woman of this coming theme in the first Music, of a babe to issue from the woman’s womb—of the one who would be the undoing of death.
The man and woman travelled on and bore two boys. Yet neither were the babe to come, for the elder murdered the younger, and birthed within himself an Abomination bent on twisting humankind to evil purposes.
The Abomination knew of the babe to come and sought to prevent its arrival. The Abomination grew and festered, and brought others of its kind into the world, spreading ruin and darkness.
Hope faltered in the hearts of men, and it seemed for a time that the Light of the first Music might be eclipsed by the darkness of the second.
But there were other legends. Whispers passed down by those faithful to the Old Way. That before the promised babe would come another child, a foreshadowing of the one to come. A herald of righteousness who would see a burning world quenched.
And he would be called Noah, for through him God would bring rest to the world.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End Excerpt~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those who like obscure facts that are not reported in the Bible, taught in Sunday School or Church, go here to read about,
The Flood is the second novel in The Fall of Man series. Now that you have had your appetite whetted with the above, let's investigate Book 1, Cain and Adam, a free short story in this series:
A riveting and scripturally faithful retelling of the story of Cain and Abel that gives heart-wrenching depth to the world's first family.
The world's first murder was just the beginning. . .
Inflamed by jealousy and on the brink of madness, Cain--firstborn among men--brutally beats his twin brother, Abel, to death. As the family struggles to believe God hasn't abandoned them, Cain flees into the wilderness with the growing fear that murdering his brother might have birthed an unstoppable evil. Soon, all of life balances upon one perilous question: is the monster inside Cain the gateway to godhood or the end of mankind?
The Fall of Man series explores Genesis 1-11 through a daring mixture of gritty realism and poetic fantasy that unveils the symbolism in the Hebrew Scriptures recording this fascinating period of ancient history.
"This extra-Biblical fantasy novel gave Cain, Abel, Seth, Adam, Eve, and many other extra-Biblical characters a heart-wrenching depth. The action and character development are spotless. The struggle Cain has with evil is excellently done." --GoodReads reviewer
Here is what Brennan says about this novel,
Here is what Brennan says about this novel,
Cain is a Biblically faithful re-imagining of the story of Cain and Abel, crafted only after years spent studying the original Hebrew text and expert scholars' interpretations of that text.
Beware: this book will challenge your assumptions and demand you suspend disbelief. Genesis is filled with fantastic truths--from the universe rolling off of God's tongue, to the Nephilim in Genesis 6, and the languages of humanity being confused in Genesis 11.
Rediscover the ancient world through Genesis, and find yourself rekindled by the mystery of God's majesty.Brennan was interviewed on the CBN.com network's 700 Club where he discusses Cain:
What others are saying about Cain and The Fall of Man series:
"A stunning and captivating novel. Brennan McPherson's fluid prose and vivid imagination are a treat for the senses, bringing to life one of the Old Testament's most enigmatic figures." --Billy Coffey, critically acclaimed author of When Mockingbirds Sing
"Cain is a wonderful novel that explores the 'what ifs' of the world's first family. Brennan McPherson explores the questions we've all had about Adam and Eve. 'What happened to Cain?' is just the beginning. Brennan writes in a refreshing style that makes you want to read more, and I expect this novel is just the first of many more to come." --Gordon Robertson, CEO of The Christian Broadcasting Network
"Orson Scott Card meets Stephen King. An imaginative debut novel that explores the first murder and makes us aware of the Cain in all of us. McPherson can write, and his beautiful language is both artistic and thought provoking." --William Sirls, best-selling author of The Reason and The Sinners' Garden
"With literary skill and respect to the original text, McPherson weaves a terrific 'what if' story on the life of Cain, all the while exploring the depths of temptation, sin, and above all, God's unfathomable mercy." --Bill Myers, best-selling author of Eli
"Thought provoking, well written, creative, highly imaginative, and all written within an honest attempt at accurately interpreting Scripture while allowing for creative license within the bounds of what might be possible. A smartly-paced debut novel. I think we'll be hearing more of Brennan and his stories." --Charles Martin, New York Times best-selling author of Unwritten and Water From My Heart
As an introduction to McPherson's writing, he has written a prequel to The Fall of Man series. Click on the title to download free this short story.
Before nations, tribes, or families existed, there was one man: Adam. Formed from the dust of the ground and the breath of the Creator, this is the story of how he came to Life and finally chose Death.
Based on Genesis 2 and 3, Adam is a fictional retelling of the creation and fall of man. It is both a standalone short e-book and a prequel to the full-length novel, Cain, which one reader called, "a profound, entertaining read...(that) offers real hope to the evil that crouches at our doorstep."
To read an excerpt of Cain or Flood or to buy, click on the BUY/PREVIEW icons below. Cain is listed as free on Amazon at the time of publishing this post:
Readers and reviews are an author's best asset, so I encourage any reader who likes reading in the genres of Christian science fiction and fantasy, to consider reading The Fall of Man series and submit a review on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest (or any other social media you subscribe to).
I need to read these. Such a young man to have a wreath of knowledge and wisdom.
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to these as well.
Delete