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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I have heard a lot of good things about Ted Dekker’s Circle Series so I was thrilled when I won this book from the Goodreads giveaways. This is a spin off of the Circle series but it easily stands alone (I haven’t read the Circle series, but now I want to!). It is the first book in a duology, with book 2, The Rise of the Mystics also released.
The story falls into several genres…dystopian, fantasy, post-apocalyptic. It has no romance, which I loved. The pacing is brisk and the story is full of action. Although I’m new to fantasy and it’s not my go-to genre, I found that this story was very easy to follow and picture.
The characters were very interesting and thought out. There were many characters but I didn’t struggle to distinguish them from one another.
Beyond the story is a much deeper meaning that I appreciated but at times I felt that the theological explanations and speeches became very wordy and drawn out.
Overall, the story was enjoyable and ended with me excited to read the next installment.
My Rating
3.5 stars
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
The story falls into several genres…dystopian, fantasy, post-apocalyptic. It has no romance, which I loved. The pacing is brisk and the story is full of action. Although I’m new to fantasy and it’s not my go-to genre, I found that this story was very easy to follow and picture.
The characters were very interesting and thought out. There were many characters but I didn’t struggle to distinguish them from one another.
Beyond the story is a much deeper meaning that I appreciated but at times I felt that the theological explanations and speeches became very wordy and drawn out.
Overall, the story was enjoyable and ended with me excited to read the next installment.
My Rating
3.5 stars
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. I thought the premise and plot were interesting, and I'm invested enough in the story to eagerly await the next one. However, when he got to the philosophical discussions, he became a little less steady. The constant, sudden repetition and change in tone made it feel inconsistent.
Full review on my blog at elysathebiblioblogger.wordpress.com.
Full review on my blog at elysathebiblioblogger.wordpress.com.
This book was really good, the plot was interesting and exciting. There was alot going on, but the author did a really good job of it not being confusing or too much.
It's a story about a journey and good versus evil. An entertaining read.
It's a story about a journey and good versus evil. An entertaining read.
I’ve been a fan of Ted Dekker since I was a 7th grader. A 12 year old kid who couldn’t write proper sentences, yet loved to read. I fell in love with Ted’s books and fell in love with writing. 49th Mystic had a lot to love up to. Red taught me who Jesus was; I was a Christian, but I first sought after Jesus after reading the Circle Series. So another book releasing that takes place IN Other Earth?
I was skeptical. I was scared. I posted in a group asking if it would be good, and the fears were echoed. Ted’s books have been lackluster in recent years, in all honesty. But we all felt the need to stand in solidarity, to BELIEVE it would be good.
And it was.
It was better than I expected, actually. It was amazing. I cried, my hands shook with the anticipation, from the return of characters I’d known for nearly 9 years. With the TRUTHS. This novel was filled with them.
Although the most theological of Ted’s books, I feel like I ought to stand on a hill and shout: “THIS IS HIS BEST BOOK.”
It is. Hands down. I cannot believe how good it was. I was thoroughly shooketh by the end, and didn’t feel as if I was reading yet another Ted Dekker novel. I felt like I was reading the REASON for Ted’s creation. The pinnacle of his authorial career. God has plans for the Circle. He will peel back the veil of this world through this story. Other Earth is my Narnia, and I love it.
I was skeptical. I was scared. I posted in a group asking if it would be good, and the fears were echoed. Ted’s books have been lackluster in recent years, in all honesty. But we all felt the need to stand in solidarity, to BELIEVE it would be good.
And it was.
It was better than I expected, actually. It was amazing. I cried, my hands shook with the anticipation, from the return of characters I’d known for nearly 9 years. With the TRUTHS. This novel was filled with them.
Although the most theological of Ted’s books, I feel like I ought to stand on a hill and shout: “THIS IS HIS BEST BOOK.”
It is. Hands down. I cannot believe how good it was. I was thoroughly shooketh by the end, and didn’t feel as if I was reading yet another Ted Dekker novel. I felt like I was reading the REASON for Ted’s creation. The pinnacle of his authorial career. God has plans for the Circle. He will peel back the veil of this world through this story. Other Earth is my Narnia, and I love it.
I have always been a Ted Dekker fan, and this novel did not disappoint. As a long time reader of The Circle Series, it tied into the world I was familiar with while introducing a mostly new cast of characters. I am anxious to read the resolution in book 2.
You can now find this review and more at Novel Notions.
Ted Dekker will always have a very special place in my heart. His books have inspired me and shaped my faith since I was a teenager, and I’ll always be grateful to them for the way they revealed truth to me in new and vibrant ways. His books will always have a shelf in my house. I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear that Dekker was returning to the world of the Circle, the series that impacted my faith more than anything else outside of the Bible I’ve ever read.
The theological impact of this book was insane. There was so much good stuff here. It had the kind of depth that required closing the book and just trying to digest for a minute before you can keep reading. And the return to Other Earth, the realm we first visited in in the Circle series, was absolutely wonderful. This book made its mark on me, without a doubt. But it wasn’t perfect.
I’ve come to the realization in recent years that I’ve grown as a reader, but Dekker hasn’t grown with me. He has great stories to tell, and amazing spiritual insights to share. But there’s something about his writing itself that just doesn’t translate for me anymore. Maybe it’s the sheer amount of incredible literature I’ve consumed in recent years, but I’ve become harder to please when it comes to prose. As I said, Dekker has great stories to tell.
But that’s exactly the problem. He tells instead of shows. This didn’t used to bother me because I didn’t know the difference. However, I know the difference now. While this telling works incredibly well for the theological aspects of his book, and even works well for the world-building, it isn’t so successful when it comes to character development and motivations. Even though I wanted desperately to connect with our main character, I never quite could. And the rest of the characters felt even less real to me.
While I had my problems with the writing, I still really enjoyed the book. The plot itself was very compelling. Rachelle, our main character, is a blind teenager living in a little community completely closed off from the rest of the world. When she receives her sight, she becomes the catalyst for a spiritual battle that will transcend worlds. You see, she’s a Mystic. The 49th, in fact, the number of completion multiplied by itself. It’s her job to find five Seals that will provide true sight to those in spiritual darkness and conquer the forces of evil. For this, she will need to attune her mind to the guidance of Elyon, Justin, and the Spirit of Truth. Dekker portrays the Godhead with such eloquence that his words have impact my own view of God in all of His fullness.
This is a really good story. I hate that I can no longer connect to Dekker’s writing as well as I could in the past, but I still highly recommend the book if you’re looking for a wild adventure that will radically impact your faith. I can’t wait until the second half of the story comes out in October. I need to know how it ends!
(Side note: While this duology will stand perfectly well on its own, there's a lot here for fans who have been with Dekker from the beginning. Besides the obvious relation to the original Circle series, there are also references to the Paradise trilogy, the Outlaw Chronicles, and even his nonfiction works. I love when authors reference their own work like this, and Dekker is incredibly good at it!)
Ted Dekker will always have a very special place in my heart. His books have inspired me and shaped my faith since I was a teenager, and I’ll always be grateful to them for the way they revealed truth to me in new and vibrant ways. His books will always have a shelf in my house. I can’t tell you how excited I was to hear that Dekker was returning to the world of the Circle, the series that impacted my faith more than anything else outside of the Bible I’ve ever read.
The theological impact of this book was insane. There was so much good stuff here. It had the kind of depth that required closing the book and just trying to digest for a minute before you can keep reading. And the return to Other Earth, the realm we first visited in in the Circle series, was absolutely wonderful. This book made its mark on me, without a doubt. But it wasn’t perfect.
I’ve come to the realization in recent years that I’ve grown as a reader, but Dekker hasn’t grown with me. He has great stories to tell, and amazing spiritual insights to share. But there’s something about his writing itself that just doesn’t translate for me anymore. Maybe it’s the sheer amount of incredible literature I’ve consumed in recent years, but I’ve become harder to please when it comes to prose. As I said, Dekker has great stories to tell.
But that’s exactly the problem. He tells instead of shows. This didn’t used to bother me because I didn’t know the difference. However, I know the difference now. While this telling works incredibly well for the theological aspects of his book, and even works well for the world-building, it isn’t so successful when it comes to character development and motivations. Even though I wanted desperately to connect with our main character, I never quite could. And the rest of the characters felt even less real to me.
While I had my problems with the writing, I still really enjoyed the book. The plot itself was very compelling. Rachelle, our main character, is a blind teenager living in a little community completely closed off from the rest of the world. When she receives her sight, she becomes the catalyst for a spiritual battle that will transcend worlds. You see, she’s a Mystic. The 49th, in fact, the number of completion multiplied by itself. It’s her job to find five Seals that will provide true sight to those in spiritual darkness and conquer the forces of evil. For this, she will need to attune her mind to the guidance of Elyon, Justin, and the Spirit of Truth. Dekker portrays the Godhead with such eloquence that his words have impact my own view of God in all of His fullness.
This is a really good story. I hate that I can no longer connect to Dekker’s writing as well as I could in the past, but I still highly recommend the book if you’re looking for a wild adventure that will radically impact your faith. I can’t wait until the second half of the story comes out in October. I need to know how it ends!
(Side note: While this duology will stand perfectly well on its own, there's a lot here for fans who have been with Dekker from the beginning. Besides the obvious relation to the original Circle series, there are also references to the Paradise trilogy, the Outlaw Chronicles, and even his nonfiction works. I love when authors reference their own work like this, and Dekker is incredibly good at it!)
I haven’t read a Ted Dekker book in years, but I have all of his older books & love them. I feel like after a while (especially during the Outlaw stage), he was writing so many books a year that his books really suffered from a lack of character development. Possibly because he was cranking too many out? Anyway, I picked this up at my library, deciding to give it a shot. While some of the book was pretty good, I felt Vlad Smith (the villain) was a little too similar to Marsuvees Black (from the Showdown series). Also, why do Dekker villains always call females “baby”? Kind of annoying. Also, a lot of it was relatively preachy & mystical. It’s not uncommon for a Dekker book to have a smattering if spirituality throughout (in fact, I usually love it), but there were whole chapters dedicated to it. It seemed a bit long when I was looking for the typical, fast-paced Dekker read.
A lot of the negative reviews on this book mention the book’s troubling theology. While I don’t feel it’s quite as offensive as others say, it still went a bit too far for me. Talking about the Holy Spirit being outside genders (which is technically true, since He’s a spirit) was taken a bit too far for me with the main character continually referring to Him as “Mother.” According to the book, God’s Spirit is referred to in the feminine in the Old Testament, so we can see Him as feminine if that’s how He “reveals” Himself to us. My husband studies both biblical Greek & Hebrew & says that Dekker definitely took some liberties there. In addition, he described the unforgivable sin the Bible as humans not being aware of their union with God & not forgiving themselves, so they can’t be forgiven by God? These were the two biggest beefs I had with the book, but I knew what I believed & the plot was interesting, so I decided to keep reading ...
And then I put the book down about 2/3 of the way through. Why? Because there was the big plot twist. And it was the same plot twist Dekker has used in multiple other books (Skin & Showdown come to mind, but I think there are others). I’m spoiling a bit, but suffice it to say that nothing is as it seems & the government’s behind the whole experiment. Come on, Ted! Can’t you think of any other plot twists? I was already frustrated with some of the characters, the lengthy preachy chapters with weird theology, but then this? I was done. I’m not interested in finishing the book or continuing the series.
A lot of the negative reviews on this book mention the book’s troubling theology. While I don’t feel it’s quite as offensive as others say, it still went a bit too far for me. Talking about the Holy Spirit being outside genders (which is technically true, since He’s a spirit) was taken a bit too far for me with the main character continually referring to Him as “Mother.” According to the book, God’s Spirit is referred to in the feminine in the Old Testament, so we can see Him as feminine if that’s how He “reveals” Himself to us. My husband studies both biblical Greek & Hebrew & says that Dekker definitely took some liberties there. In addition, he described the unforgivable sin the Bible as humans not being aware of their union with God & not forgiving themselves, so they can’t be forgiven by God? These were the two biggest beefs I had with the book, but I knew what I believed & the plot was interesting, so I decided to keep reading ...
And then I put the book down about 2/3 of the way through. Why? Because there was the big plot twist. And it was the same plot twist Dekker has used in multiple other books (Skin & Showdown come to mind, but I think there are others). I’m spoiling a bit, but suffice it to say that nothing is as it seems & the government’s behind the whole experiment. Come on, Ted! Can’t you think of any other plot twists? I was already frustrated with some of the characters, the lengthy preachy chapters with weird theology, but then this? I was done. I’m not interested in finishing the book or continuing the series.
I've read other Ted Dekker books and really enjoyed them but I couldnt finish this one. About halfway through I felt the wiring was getting repetitive - (How many times does he really need to use the word blind or polarity?) - and preachy. I realize he's a Christian based writer but this was chock full of direct references to the Bible and I sometimes thought I was in a Bible study class. If that's your thing you'll probably love this book but I couldnt get through it.
What to say about this book? In some ways, it feels like a return to the books that made me a Dekker fan in the first place. The 49th Mystic is clearly connected to the original Circle books (along with many other Dekker novels). Rachelle, like Thomas Hunter in that first series, travels between worlds (or perhaps backwards and forwards in time?) by dreaming. Falling asleep in her idyllic town in Utah, she wakes in an unknown land 2000 years in the future, where she meets two Roush, a man named Justin, Horde warriors, Samuel of Hunter, and Shataiki. All of these will be familiar to readers of the Circle series. Rachelle learns she's a Mystic, the 49th Mystic, and this makes her capable of saving both the world as we know it and the future world.
I enjoyed Rachelle's journey—it has a very familiar feel to it, one that long-time Dekker readers will appreciate. The story contains a trademark Dekker twist, which I enjoyed. But I'm still torn when thinking about what I just read because of one thing: the theology presented in the book.
When I read Black, Red, and White, I remember being challenged by Dekker's presentation of God, faith, and the gospel. But never once did anything feel "off" to me. That's not the case here. While there is undoubtedly Truth contained in the pages of The 49th Mystic, Dekker's version of truth seems to contain elements of mysticism, New Age, and perhaps even universalism. I'm not saying that Dekker is necessarily wrong about anything that he says—I would need to study that out for myself—but I would say to proceed with caution.
I know that Dekker has written a non-fiction book called The Forgotten Way where he clearly lays out his spiritual journey and beliefs; I haven't read that book, but I'm guessing that a couple chapters are largely taken from that work. They certainly read more like non-fiction with a little story stuck into it, and those chapters don't flow as well as the others in the book do. I would also say that I've never been a fan of "preachy" fiction, and this certainly feels preachy at times.
Overall, I'm glad I read The 49th Mystic. I've enjoyed the return to the world Dekker created long ago and I'm looking forward to the next book. I just can't wholeheartedly recommend it.
Disclosure of material connection: I received this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed are my own.
I enjoyed Rachelle's journey—it has a very familiar feel to it, one that long-time Dekker readers will appreciate. The story contains a trademark Dekker twist, which I enjoyed. But I'm still torn when thinking about what I just read because of one thing: the theology presented in the book.
When I read Black, Red, and White, I remember being challenged by Dekker's presentation of God, faith, and the gospel. But never once did anything feel "off" to me. That's not the case here. While there is undoubtedly Truth contained in the pages of The 49th Mystic, Dekker's version of truth seems to contain elements of mysticism, New Age, and perhaps even universalism. I'm not saying that Dekker is necessarily wrong about anything that he says—I would need to study that out for myself—but I would say to proceed with caution.
I know that Dekker has written a non-fiction book called The Forgotten Way where he clearly lays out his spiritual journey and beliefs; I haven't read that book, but I'm guessing that a couple chapters are largely taken from that work. They certainly read more like non-fiction with a little story stuck into it, and those chapters don't flow as well as the others in the book do. I would also say that I've never been a fan of "preachy" fiction, and this certainly feels preachy at times.
Overall, I'm glad I read The 49th Mystic. I've enjoyed the return to the world Dekker created long ago and I'm looking forward to the next book. I just can't wholeheartedly recommend it.
Disclosure of material connection: I received this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review, and the opinions expressed are my own.