Local author's second novel

Herald-Tribune

Nevada, Mo. -- Stephen J. Byers, a 1977 graduate of Nevada High School, has penned a novel, "What Was Lost," imagining the special emotional and physical challenges that must have beset Noah and his family during the biblical story of the Great Flood and the journey of the ark.

"It's a story we all know -- or do we? Everyone loves the thought of the animals marching two by two into Noah's ark. But how often do we stop and think about what it really means? This was the worst catastrophe in human history."

The 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean and recent hurricanes remind onlookers of the devastation disasters leave.

"The heartbreaking part about the Great Flood of Noah's day was that Noah knew it was coming. I tried to capture the sense of frustration and agony they must have felt when nobody would listen to their repeated warnings."

Subtitled, "The Chronicles of Japheth Book I," the book depicts these events through the eyes of Noah's eldest son.

The story of Noah's Ark, Byers said, is "epic in scale. After all, it's not every day that a small band of people become the sole survivors of an entire planet."

Byers admits that the story of Noah is very well known, but by imagining events through the eyes of Japheth, he feels he was able to "re-examine the Great Flood in a fresh way."

This perspective, and the imaginings that accompany it, evolved over time and began with ideas and a rough draft spoken into a tape recorder during his long daily commute, which is more than three hours each day.

"I should emphasize that these were rural highway miles and the tape recorder got switched off when I hit traffic," he said.

Despite the judicious use of time, several drafts ensued before the final product was printed in a process that took more than three years.

"I doubt if there's a chapter that was revised fewer than 10 times, and most got way more than that," Byers said.

The cast of characters is set -- Noah and his family, the animals and those he tries to warn.

Subplots woven into the tale include the romance between Japheth and his wife, the actions of townspeople and the actions of the animals with which Japheth can communicate.

"I'll admit that this is one area where I many have stretched the Genesis account a little. but it doesn't seem quite so far-fetched when you consider Eve's encounter with the serpent in the Garden of Eden. She doesn't appear to have been the least bit surprised that the serpent could talk. Too bad she listened. It's also curious that there seems to have been a prohibition against eating animal flesh that was lifted after the Flood. Anyone who has ever had a dearly loved pet shouldn't have too much trouble getting his or her imagination around the concept of communicating with animals. And people don't seem to mind that the animals in Narnia talk, so maybe they won't here, either."

He describes "What Was Lost" as a adventure, a drama, a love story come to life, whether the reader thinks of the story of Noah's Ark as history or mythology.

"What Was Lost, The Chronicles of Japheth Book I" By Stephen J. Byers, is published by Infinity Publishing.

His first novel, "The Life of Your Time" was honored as one of the Top 10 Christian Novels of 2001, by the American Library Association's Booklist magazine.