Green: The Beginning and the End (Circle Series #0) by Ted Dekker

I like the trilogy betterby Christian_Parent_Reviews

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November 24, 2009: Green (Book 0) is the first or the last book of the 4-book "Circle" series. According to Dekker, the reader can "start with Black, then read Red, White and end with Green. Or start with Green and move on to Black, Red and White." When I started reading the series, Green wasn't published yet so I had no choice but to start with Black and end with Green.

Theologically, the book is splotchy. I like Dekker's allegory of salvation. Jesus is pursuing the lost and He wants them to love Him, but at the same time I don't like that "The Great Romance" can somewhat allude to having lovey-dovey feelings for Jesus, which is unbiblical, weird, and distasteful. At the same time, Samuel Hunter is a good example of how salvation and a relationship with Christ needs to be personal. One can't get to Heaven just because their parents are Christian or the fact that one was raised in church. A person must develop their own personal and genuine relationship with Christ.

In terms of family friendliness, I say "no". The book describes rituals, fight, and battle scenes in vivid, and most of the time, gory detail. The character, Billy, uses some sex-tinged dialogue, such as calling a woman a whore, and compares traveling between two realities to sex. That's basically what is said, but it's unnecessary. The character, Janae, acts seductively, but it's not explicit.

Green is a good book with some very dramatic, emotional, and powerful moments, but I wish it was more family-friendly like the other books in the series. I guess one could read just Red, Black, and White and be okay with that, but the series is so interesting you just want to read more. In fact, I do want to read the Lost Books series (which is aimed towards youth) and the Paradise novels which elaborates more on the characters and certain events mentioned in the series.

The Circle series is a creative, thrilling, dramatic, and well-written series. However, I liked The Circle Trilogy better than The Circle Series. I'm glad I read Green last. I feel as if I read it first, Green would've given too much away. The series is truly circular, which is both a good and bad thing. Creating a "Book Zero" is ingenious and it links Books 1 and 3 well, but it leaves the reader (at least, me) hanging. I feel as if I have so many unanswered questions. I might have to read Black again. But maybe that was the point.

I'm ready to enter the Circleby BluestockingBB

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November 15, 2009: Ted Dekker rights another great Christian fiction novel. I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.

This series was very allegorical in nature. The "affliction" with which the Horde was afflicted was sin. The disease was the physical manifestation of sin. The fact that the Horde was delusion represents how sin in our lives effects our perception of everything. The book was interesting in that in reality there has been a move away from all religion period; this has happened over a couple thousand years. In the "future" of this book, this move took place in less than 50 years. Things were becoming legend after 13 years. This was to illustrate how quickly people forget. But the question that the Forest Dwellers experienced is so accurate as to the spiritual questions many people have today. It was a fresh perspective on the spiritual temperature of today's society.