Book Review: Green by Ted Dekker

"According to the Books of History, everything that happened after the year 2010 actually began in the year 4036 AD. It began in the future, not the past. Confusing perhaps, but perfectly understandable once you realize that some things are as dependent on the future as on the past." Green, pg VII.

Thomas Hunter is struggling to keep the circle intact. It is his own son, Samuel, who seems to be pulling it apart - voicing the doubts that everyone already has about Elyon's promises and doctrines. Love the horde? Samuel stirs everything up when he rides into the celebration with the head of a horde soldier. The circle is fragmenting, and Thomas is forced to go back in the histories to find the answers to the problems that are facing him. But, others, from the past, want to use the histories as well. It is a race against time. Will good win out over evil? Will the circle shatter completely? Will Thomas be able to save his son?

*may contain spoilers*

This book is full of action and suspense that keeps the pages turning. There are themes and doctrines that I found very disturbing. Samuel, though saved (an albino) at the beginning of the book, dies as a Scab (unsaved) at the end. There is a lot of demonology in the book as well. Disturbing things that actually gave me nightmares after reading it.

Ted Dekker had a great idea in making the circle series completely circular. Green is book zero. You can start with it, or end with it. It is the beginning and the end of the circle. At least that was the idea. I haven't read any of the other circle books, and after reading Green, I won't. To go back and read Black, Red and White would be a let down, knowing how the story finishes.

I had never read a Dekker book before, and I wasn't sure what I would be getting myself into. I am always on the lookout for new authors to add to my reading library. I don't mind fantasy and Sci-fi elements in stories, but I think that Dekker goes a little far in his "christian" fictionalization of the last times. There were many things in the book that I found disturbing and inappropriate. Violence, sex and evil were all seemingly glorified in the story. Though I hate to give bad reviews, I have to admit that after reading Green, I'm not going to bother with another Dekker book.

I don't recommend this book.