GreenGreen by Ted Dekker, Book 0: The Beginning and the End, of The Circle series (Thomas Nelson, September 1, 2009), 432 pages

I read the original Circle Trilogy (Black, Red, White) in 2007 and 2008. When I initially read them — especially Red and White — I wasn’t terribly impressed. Since then, though, my appreciation of the series has grown immensely.

Green is Book Zero, beginning & end. Sounds crazy but it works. If you’ve already read the rest of the series, it’s the end; if not, it’s the starting point for jumping into this world. (Obviously, I can’t exactly verify how well it works as the start of the series, since I’d read the other books first. But I’m pretty convinced it would work well.)

Summary
Thomas of Hunter, leader of a band of believers in Elyon, the one true God, living in a reality set in Earth’s future — along with his whole world — faces a catastrophe. Hunter’s son has betrayed the Circle and its teachings and has joined forces with those who would rather fight than celebrate. And the powers of evil are gaining strength. Thomas seeks a way to return to our world in hope of a solution.

Review
I thought it was a finished story in the first 3 books. But how this is added? Genius. It’s my favorite thing about Green. If you liked the rest of The Circle series, this is a must read.

Green (like most of the Circle books, really) isn’t particularly fast-paced like some of Dekker’s other work. This just allows the story to shine, though. I think I recall reading somewhere that Dekker disliked the series being described as allegory. Whether that’s true or not (I can’t find it at the moment), I’m certainly not the first to refer to the series as such. And this is what sticks with me, this is what make me love these books. In Thomas of Hunter’s world in Green, what is unseen here (the spiritual realm) is physical. It’s like Pilgrim’s Progress, except rather than depicting one Christian’s life, it’s depicting the world, a larger reality.

More
My (very brief) reviews of other Dekker books: Blink of an Eye and Thr3e.

Ted Dekker is a prolific author. His blog. He’s @teddekker on Twitter.

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