First of all, if you haven’t read part 1 of my review you should read it first!
The next part in The Circle by Ted Dekker is White, and for the most part it is the conclusion to the tale of Thomas Hunter. In White, Thomas faces his most difficult trials yet as not just one, but two worlds are facing an end. In our world Thomas is trying to keep war from breaking out all over the globe and the Raison Strain from ravaging what is left of the population. He must also face innumerable trials on other Earth as the Horde seeks to exterminate the remnant of the circle that is remaining. Those left alive are now known as the albinos and it is the Horde that now live in the forests. Most of all Thomas must know what it means for an albino to fall in love with Horde.
White builds to an ending that will have you amazed and astonished. Thomas faces the most difficult decisions of his life, and saying that it is a matter of life or death is an understatement. It is much more than that. The Great Romance and the Circle must be left unbroken, and the only way to live is to die. To dive deep. If you enjoyed the first two you will certainly love the powerful ending that is Ted Dekker’s White.
The real sequel to white is Showdown, and as Showdown was written closely after Ted wrote White it is the book that makes the most sense. However, Ted decided to write a book that would be an ending and a beginning to the original Circle Trilogy making it the Circle Series. Green is that book. Green is chronologically the sequel to White only in the world of Other Earth but it follows the rest of Thomas Hunter’s life.
Thomas Hunter’s own son, Samuel, has turned his back on The Circle and seeks to destroy the Horde once and for all. His hatred of the horde has grown with every death of a friend or family member and it has become too much. Thomas must once again save The Circle, even if he must cross the realities once again to do so. The action is the most intense of all of the books but in my mind it requires too much knowledge of the world that Ted Dekker has created to be the first book to read. Rather in this setting of the four books together it works great. I still would love to tell you to read some of Decker’s other books first but if you need to know how the tale of Thomas hunter ends then read on to Green. Ted Dekker wrote green very well and it stays exciting and action packed from page 1 until you close the book and say WOW. It makes you want to read it all over again if only to figure it out what just happened.
Now here is the dividing point between the original books and the new 4-in-1 edition. In this version there is an alternate ending. The new ending does not change anything too dramatically, though it makes a point of exploring the idea of what if Thomas made a different choice? The Circle is all about choices, but what does it mean if Thomas never goes back and resets his life? It means Billy can’t try to kill him and Marsuuv doesn’t win. Thomas instead goes on to live in the new creation that has been made for those in The Circle and what he sees is amazing to say the least. But any fan of the series must ask the question, if Billy never attacks Thomas then how do the events of the original Circle ever take place? Sure the choice of moving on is closure to the story but it asks the question of what if it never happened?
A new ending to Green should be a welcome addition to the library of any Ted Dekker fan, and those that have never read it before will highly enjoy reading the series from beginning to end. I really enjoyed reading this version of The Circle Series and I definitely recommend it! For those out there I merely ask, what was your first Ted Dekker book and what did you think of it? If you have never read any of his books before they are highly enlightening and give you a new perspective on the Gospel and what it means to us. So either way, read on!
Ted Dekker is a New York Times best-selling Christian author best known for suspense andthriller novels, though he has also made a name for himself among fantasy fans. Early in his career he wrote a number of books with Christian themes that would best be categorized asreligious fiction. His later works are a mix of mainstream novels such as Adam, Thr3e, Skin,Obsessed, BoneMan’s Daughters, and The Bride Collector; and fantasy thrillers that metaphorically explore faith. Best known among these are his Circle Series (Black, Red, White, Green), The Lost Books (Chosen, Infidel, Renegade, Chaos, Lunatic, Elyon), and The Paradise Books (Showdown ,Saint, and Sinner), as well as House (with Frank Peretti), Skin, and Immanuel’s Veins.
