Customer Reviews

From the Ashes of Angels

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Overall, this is a well researched book. I suppose one might call this genre "investigative mythology". I particularly found memorable his assertion that St. Augustine thought the Book of Enoch was too old and thus should be excluded from canonical texts. What kept this book from getting a fifth star were several weaknesses. For example, the author's next-to-last chapter was essentially a non-academic emotional diatribe against organized religion. Additionally, his conjecture about the findings of large malformed human skulls being proof of another and superior race is essentially that, merely conjecture. Modern DNA analysis might sort out whether these are congenital malformations as a result of incestuous inbreeding or a subspecies of Homo sapiens. However, his efforts at bringing together various and disparate mythologies into a cohesive hypothesis about a lost and oft maligned race is quite entertaining and provocative. Still, I highly recommed it for your home library.

First and foremost, you have to be able to put aside what is considered to be mainstream thoughts and beliefs about archeology, human evolution, and the beginnings of this world to even begin to enjoy Mr. Collins' fine work. His work is set up to help you question, think and most importantly, challenge the norm. From the Ashes of Angels is no different. Admittedly, some of the chapters repeat previously mentioned information, but it's organized to help even the most ingrained, stubborn believer in seeing that there is more to our past than what's found in the history books. In fact, history books don't even cover 1/10th of the truth. Remember, history is written by the victor's and I believe that most of Collins' work sees both sides, presents it in a concise and easy to follow package and allows the reader to make his/her own mind up. As for me, the proof is all there, you only have to open your eyes to it. As for those who believe that this book, or any of Collins' books aren't worth the read, you're entitled to your opinion. However, back up your comments with some actual proof or facts. I'm tired of reading reviews that only blame the author when the reader is not willing to see past their own bias to expand their knowledge base. So reader beware, you will have to put aside your belief system and reach beyond what you already know to truly grasp this work. Isn't that what learning is all about? You have the choice to believe in what's written, but walk into it with heart and mind open. Andrew Collins doesn't disprove the bible or the stories therein as some of the reviews have alluded to, but rather helps validate events in the book. Collins does go one step farther by showing how folklore and oral traditions twist facts over time. Really, did anyone believe that angels were visable only in pre-historic times? I think that Mr. Collins should be commended for his open, fresh and enticing thoughts on our belief structures and where they originated. Not a book for the weak of mind or stubborn of heart. If you're interested in learning and exploring the origins of angels, nephalim, and such, then BUY A COPY NOW! By the time you put this book down, you will realize that our twisted beliefs started somewhere, and there is much more to our history than what is in the history books. Enjoy!

From the Ashes of Angels is Andrew Collins' attempt to explain the mysterious references to giants and angels in Genesis. His theory, which makes a lot of sense, is that these so called supernatural beings were humans from a distant and more advanced civilization who visited the Middle East and introduced new ideas and technologies to the local inhabitants. He doesn't quite nail down where this civilization might have been located,and unfortunately goes off on a tangent to Egypt for some unnecessary speculations on the origin of the Pyramids, etc. But even so his theory holds water and deserves further consideration.

I would rate this book a five on information and a one on its structure. I'm reading it now for the second time, and having just as much trouble as the first. There is just so much in here, and too much is, I think, rendered in the main text rather than being subjugated as footnotes. The result is a loss of integrity due to these diversions in the text which, at least on my part, leads to confusion.Too many tangents! There is just so much in this book, so many interesting ideas and conceptions and a wealth of history that despite the difficulty I am pursuing it with vigor and writing my own chapter summaries and marginal notes. I would most certainly recommend this book to those interested in this subject, but be warned that it is hard-going. If the authors happen to read this review I would ask them to please, please, write chapter summaries as does Graham Phillips!

For those familiar with the explorations of alternative archaelogists the word "nephilim" should be no new acquaintance. The debate about their origin though seems to carry on and on.
Andrew Collins has delivered here an extraordinary book when one considers the painstaking research he's invested in it. I do feel however, that he's probably arrived to the wrong conclusions.
Collins professes that the Nephilim were the giant offspring of a preancient gigantic humanlike being that mated with humans and his research focuses on the Watchers (the Nephilim's ancestors) and the territories they lived. Remarkably, if not shockingly, he arrives at the conclusion that the Watchers originated somewhere in ancient Kazahkstan but he fails to explain their strange (to put it very mildly) features: burning, sometimes red eyes, massive in size compared to humans and with very possibly "special qualities, which again humans did not and do not, possess.
What makes this book great -whether you agree or not with its conclusions- is that the trek it takes you for is full of priceless revelations and a plethora of incredible facts ranging from Asia to eastern Europe to northern Africa, revelations and facts that will put certain questions in a new perspective while they leave others still open.
I, for one, dont agree with the final analysis of "From the Ashes of Angels" but was astounded with what i read in it.There were certain things i read for the very first time allthough i spend quite a lot of my reading on alternative archaelogy. That should speak for itself.
On the downside, the back and forths in time that Collins uses in his book work mostly to a disadvantage as the reader finds it difficult to keep up with the historical references, or for that matter, to keep up with what Collins is trying to argumentate. This has to do mostly with the bulk of information provided (and this is one serious bulk of data) than with the technique of writting itself.
I found myself comparing notes in my head with Sitchin's findings on this matter and i thought that Sitchin makes a better more convincing argument alltogether.
However, Collins is a must-read as his other works are just as interesting and he makes a tremendous contribution to the field of alternative history.

I wanted to give this book one star, but, I think the huge amount of research employed merits it at least two. It could however easily have got five only for its poor analysis of the evidence presented. Andrew Collins biggest mistake in my opinion is that he doesn't want to say anything thats out of step with the "academic view" - he even says it himself.

In his effort to distance himself from any theological position and make himself, as if it were, acceptable to mainstream academic thought, he constructs the greatest shoe-string argument I've ever seen. I don't understand why some people feel the need to write books with one hand tied behind their backs.

The book starts brilliantly and continues well for the first 200 pages but then the prejudices he brought into the book start to close him in and in the end its a bit of an anti-climax. He seems to be very unaware - (maybe intentionally unaware) of the biblical evidence; he mentions Gen:6v1-4, and Og of Bashan, but doesn't explore the cryptic teem running through the bible, he doesn't explore Josephus either.

However, he can't be faulted for his research into minority religions in the Iran-Iraq-Kurdistan area and the tentitive links to an Eygptian elder culture, the colossal structures such as the sphinx and the valley temples might well be what remains of the "mighty men of old...the men of renown", even though he never says it.

In the massive information database we have today, there is really too much conjecture.

I found this book satisfying in that it delivers on one promise: it brings out information about the ancient past that opens up questions. I found it less than satisfying in that it does little to amplify on what is otherwise available. Although I would recommend the book as a curiosity, I find it difficult to recommend for serious students of ancient cultures.

Author Collins takes a curiosity I've long shared -- the comment on the "Sons of God" and the "Daughters of Men" in the Book of Genesis and explodes it into a mystery ten thousand years old and spanning most of Central Asia and ancient Egypt. The very real evidence surrounding the truth of the Nephilim and their sires, whom Collins deems "Watchers," a name etymologically derived, is revealed through archaeological evidence and oral tradition. Collins tracks his elusive quarry to the peaks of Kurdistan, then onward through Asia Minor and thence possibly to Egypt...though I will not give away his excellent reasoning in this review. This book is well worth the read -- it is exciting, thought-provoking, and stunning in its scope and detail.

Furthermore, I feel that I must comment upon the previous (below) reviews here at Amazon: First, Collins is not a religious writer, and his investigation uncovers a very real -- very HUMAN -- origin for "angelic" myths throughout Asian folklore (from which Judaic-Christian-Islamic tradition derives). Thus, it is not fair to dismiss Collins' work simply because it does not adhere to Biblical belief of angels as metaphysical beings. Second, to the reviewer's point that the Nephilim were "evil" and brutal and thus uncivilized, human nature is often both brutal *and* civilized. One can be both advanced -- and thus capable of transmitting culture to less-developed societies -- and yet capable of exploiting those societies as well. And third, more of a nitpick: one reviewer stated that Collins' proposed Watcher culture was located in Khazakhstan, whereas it was located in Kurdistan (modern northeastern Turkiye, northern Syria, and northwestern Iraq).

This is a very interesting book with lots of new ways to look at Biblical stories and Eastern mythologies, but Andrew Collins style of writing leaves so much to be desired that it makes the reading very heavy going. He seems to finish every 3rd sentence with a question mark - "Could it be?" "Does this mean that?" so I just found myself scanning the pages for the hosts of question marks in the text! He also tends to make huge leaps to connect facts that he states as being 'obviously' and 'irrefutably' true when really they are tenuous or just interesting connections.
I'm very interested in Near Eastern mythology, biblical apocrypha, nephilim and watcher legends etc so this was a worthwhile book for me. I just feel that Collins needs to work on his writing to make it more academic and less sensationalist.
I'd give this book a 4 or 5 for interesting content but really only a 2 for the way it is written.

This Book is among the best 10 books written of all time in my opinion. Why? Because not only is the thesis of evidence step by step made carefuly by author Andrew Collins that Angels are real, but his research is quite relative to modern and Ancient Culture. He made me feel as if he were an angel to lead the reader and I literally walked in the foot steps of the Biblical Patriarch Enoch as he really saw the events LIVE. This Book is a most excellent companion to the Gnostic Book of Enoch with new eyes and understanding to read. The Scholarship of Andrew Collins is 2nd to none. He belongs in the ranks of Barbara G. Walker, Robert Graves, Joseph Campbell, Carl Jung and Sir Laurence Gardner as a major contributor to divine connections to our own divine history. Andrew Collins has no time for fiction and tells it like it is. The field of Mythology research is now more enriched in revelation for the average reader. This Book is enough to create a solid foundation in ones personal religious beliefs in way never conceived before. Andrew Collins has proven that at one time "Heaven" was a place on Earth and perhaps some day when enough people read this book, then again Heaven on Earth will be here again only if this becomes required reading in the High Schools Colleges of tomorrow.