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aallen820's review
2.0
After finishing Black, Red, and White, I wanted to see how the story was completed in Green. As a stand alone or part of a different series it could even have been decent but as a part of the 4 book series, there were some things that didn't work well for me. Green takes place almost exclusively in allegory world with just brief passages in the current + a few decades world. I liked the tethering to the modern world that the first 3 books did and didn't get much of that in Green.
While Thomas is still a central character, there is a significant amount of the story allocated to the antagonists and evil in Ba'al, Billy, and Janae. The occult also got a significant amount of book space with graphic details. There was gratuitous blood throughout and a good bit of sensuality that wasn't present in the first 3 books. If it were a movie it would be a hard R rating vs. PG to PG13 for the first 3.
It was disorienting for the primary force of evil to be Marsuuv even though Teelah was referenced and made a very brief appearance. Ba'al's possession by Marsuv was a marked break from the other 3 books where the Shataiki were mainly physical torment0rs rather than having spiritual embodiment capabilities. I know there are other Books of History books and probably Billy and Marsuv are better explained there but since Green is presented as being a beginning/end book, it should have been able to stand with the original trilogy without needing to read a bunch of other books to understand the new characters in the final book in a 4 book circle series.
I also thought Janae being a vampire didn't fit with the overall story. It felt forced. I read Dekker's answers to commonly asked questions about the Shataiki always being meant to be vampires but they were bats not humans turned into vampires in the other books. It created a whole origin story that seemed to reach beyond the construct of the original 3 books. I thought this was such a departure from the other books that it didn't fit the world of the story. It seemed more like Dekker saw the popularity of vampire stories and movies in the mid to late 2000s and decided to add this after the fact since Green wasn't published until five years after the original trilogy in 2009.
Green was also a bit non-chronological from an allegory perspective by including both the old testament story similar to Elijah and the prophets of Baal mixed with Abraham sacrificing Isaac as well as something like Armageddon from Revelation. Black, Red, and White were more chronological in mirroring pre-fall, old testament sin/rules for atonement/new testament redemption of the bride.
Theologically, it also seemed problematic if it was trying to continue in the vain of Christian allegory with albinos able to lose their redemption, evil being a choice after be vanquished in the final triumph of Elyon, and getting a do over on life like a perpetual Ground Hog day till you decide you like the ending.
While I enjoyed parts of the book and it was interesting to expand the story, for me, the series would have been better left finishing with White. Reading Green as the first book in the series would feel weird to go from it into Black, Red, and White. It just wouldn't work for me and I'm doubtful that I'd continue the series if reading Green first. Reader beware.
While Thomas is still a central character, there is a significant amount of the story allocated to the antagonists and evil in Ba'al, Billy, and Janae. The occult also got a significant amount of book space with graphic details. There was gratuitous blood throughout and a good bit of sensuality that wasn't present in the first 3 books. If it were a movie it would be a hard R rating vs. PG to PG13 for the first 3.
It was disorienting for the primary force of evil to be Marsuuv even though Teelah was referenced and made a very brief appearance. Ba'al's possession by Marsuv was a marked break from the other 3 books where the Shataiki were mainly physical torment0rs rather than having spiritual embodiment capabilities. I know there are other Books of History books and probably Billy and Marsuv are better explained there but since Green is presented as being a beginning/end book, it should have been able to stand with the original trilogy without needing to read a bunch of other books to understand the new characters in the final book in a 4 book circle series.
I also thought Janae being a vampire didn't fit with the overall story. It felt forced. I read Dekker's answers to commonly asked questions about the Shataiki always being meant to be vampires but they were bats not humans turned into vampires in the other books. It created a whole origin story that seemed to reach beyond the construct of the original 3 books. I thought this was such a departure from the other books that it didn't fit the world of the story. It seemed more like Dekker saw the popularity of vampire stories and movies in the mid to late 2000s and decided to add this after the fact since Green wasn't published until five years after the original trilogy in 2009.
Green was also a bit non-chronological from an allegory perspective by including both the old testament story similar to Elijah and the prophets of Baal mixed with Abraham sacrificing Isaac as well as something like Armageddon from Revelation. Black, Red, and White were more chronological in mirroring pre-fall, old testament sin/rules for atonement/new testament redemption of the bride.
Theologically, it also seemed problematic if it was trying to continue in the vain of Christian allegory with albinos able to lose their redemption, evil being a choice after be vanquished in the final triumph of Elyon, and getting a do over on life like a perpetual Ground Hog day till you decide you like the ending.
While I enjoyed parts of the book and it was interesting to expand the story, for me, the series would have been better left finishing with White. Reading Green as the first book in the series would feel weird to go from it into Black, Red, and White. It just wouldn't work for me and I'm doubtful that I'd continue the series if reading Green first. Reader beware.
renzbenz9999's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
wwalters87's review
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
jfkaess's review
2.0
Really bad. If you've read Red, White and Black (the Circle Trilogy) don't ruin it by reading this mess. I think that normally Ted Dekker writes some pretty good stuff, but NOT this one.
cephas's review
2.0
The original circle trilogy was great. I see what Ted Dekker was trying to do with this book, unfortunately the loose ends that this book ties up should have been left untouched. The original circle trilogy would have been just fine without this f0llow up.
prettypieceoffiction's review
4.0
I thought it was an amazing story. I have read the first three in the trilogy and I enjoyed the wrap up of the series. If you have not read the first three books it might be a bit confusing.
angelicvillainess's review
2.0
I know that so many people absolutely adore this series, and I WANT to, and perhaps it's because I was listening as opposed to reading, but this was just such a slow burn for me...by the end, I was finally fully vested and ready for book 2, but it took me entirely too much effort to get into it. I'm as sad as you about it.
inspiretruth's review
1.0
I couldn't finish this book. Unlike the other books in The Circle series, I wasn't really engrossed in the storyline. There was a lot of repetition about what happened in the other books and I couldn't connect with the characters like I could before. I also hated that Ted Dekker kept using the word 'whore.' Also, the sensuality and gore in this book was not necessary, I practically had to skip a whole chapter because I was so uncomfortable with the sacrifice that was taking place. I was really disappointed in this series because my friend had told me such great things about it. Honestly, I wish I would've stopped after reading White (even though I had lots of questions after the ending).
megz88's review
5.0
Wow. What a crazy book. I loved it tho. Time for me to read The Lost Books series!
simonrtaylor's review
3.0
The much anticipated Circle Series book `four of three’ overpromised and under-delivered. The fourth and final outing of the Circle series purported to be prequel and sequel, beginning and end.
It’s true that the four-part story is circular. Green could be placed first or last without being out of sequence. However I would recommend that readers begin with Black, followed by Red, White and finally Green. Green has a great many allusions and concepts which are gradually explained through Black (2006), Red (2006-07) and White (2007) that new readers might find difficult to come to grips with by starting with Green. Also, as the action is set after the events of White, reading Green first would be a massive spoiler for plot developments as deaths and storyline conclusions in the first three books are mentioned.
If Black, Red and White are effectively an allegory for the fall, crucifixion and resurrection, Green is surely an allegory for modern day. As with reality, in Green it has been some time since Elyon walked the earth. His followers are disillusioned, his word questioned and existence debated. Sects and denominations have formed. With Green, Dekker explores the post-salvation pre-rapture period of humanity that the genre often ignores with overall success. He captures the frustrations of the doubters and the desperation of the followers with enough characterisation that both parties are deserving of sympathy.
The `other world’, or our world 2000 years in the future, has a steady supply of action that dips slightly around two-thirds in but is on the whole well-paced. However, the content is much darker and more graphic than in previous novels. Perhaps this is deliberate to emphasise the growing depravity of the Horde, however some of the content is disturbing at best.
Our present-day world, which is now 30 years ahead of real time, falls completely flat. The magic of Black, Red and White was that each world was heading for catastrophe and there were two plots racing against each other. However there is no particular peril in our world and the action there is drab. Thomas’s time there is nothing more than a filler. Given the uniqueness this afforded Green’s predecessors, that the reader was always desperate to flip back to the action in the other world regardless of which we were in, this should have been apparent again. The absence of any present(ish)-day peril was a critical failure and missed what made the original Circle books special.
The end of the book, the finale (or beginning) of the series, threw up some surprises. I was fairly confident throughout of how it would end, and it surprised me which I always like. I did feel other/future world wasn’t tied up as well as it could have been although it can be extrapolated biblically. The way in which the `circle’ is formed was not at all what I thought it would be. The link back to Black, thus making the series circular, is very definite but utterly ridiculous. I felt it was a weak ending and–although it resolves a previously unanswered question from the opening of Black–is more of a gimmick than a satisfying conclusion. The `circle’ could have been so much stronger and made the series completely unique but in actual fact a linear narrative with a definite conclusion would have been better than the nonsense played out in the last couple of pages.
In fairness to Dekker, the novel is enjoyable and the other/future world is particularly well thought out in terms of races and religions, but it doesn’t live up to the standard of the original trilogy. The ending in particular cheapens the series as a whole. For those who have read Black, Red and White, it’s probably worth investing in this volume to complete your collection but, in all honesty, Dekker should probably have stopped at White and left the trilogy as the threesome it was originally created to be.
It’s true that the four-part story is circular. Green could be placed first or last without being out of sequence. However I would recommend that readers begin with Black, followed by Red, White and finally Green. Green has a great many allusions and concepts which are gradually explained through Black (2006), Red (2006-07) and White (2007) that new readers might find difficult to come to grips with by starting with Green. Also, as the action is set after the events of White, reading Green first would be a massive spoiler for plot developments as deaths and storyline conclusions in the first three books are mentioned.
If Black, Red and White are effectively an allegory for the fall, crucifixion and resurrection, Green is surely an allegory for modern day. As with reality, in Green it has been some time since Elyon walked the earth. His followers are disillusioned, his word questioned and existence debated. Sects and denominations have formed. With Green, Dekker explores the post-salvation pre-rapture period of humanity that the genre often ignores with overall success. He captures the frustrations of the doubters and the desperation of the followers with enough characterisation that both parties are deserving of sympathy.
The `other world’, or our world 2000 years in the future, has a steady supply of action that dips slightly around two-thirds in but is on the whole well-paced. However, the content is much darker and more graphic than in previous novels. Perhaps this is deliberate to emphasise the growing depravity of the Horde, however some of the content is disturbing at best.
Our present-day world, which is now 30 years ahead of real time, falls completely flat. The magic of Black, Red and White was that each world was heading for catastrophe and there were two plots racing against each other. However there is no particular peril in our world and the action there is drab. Thomas’s time there is nothing more than a filler. Given the uniqueness this afforded Green’s predecessors, that the reader was always desperate to flip back to the action in the other world regardless of which we were in, this should have been apparent again. The absence of any present(ish)-day peril was a critical failure and missed what made the original Circle books special.
The end of the book, the finale (or beginning) of the series, threw up some surprises. I was fairly confident throughout of how it would end, and it surprised me which I always like. I did feel other/future world wasn’t tied up as well as it could have been although it can be extrapolated biblically. The way in which the `circle’ is formed was not at all what I thought it would be. The link back to Black, thus making the series circular, is very definite but utterly ridiculous. I felt it was a weak ending and–although it resolves a previously unanswered question from the opening of Black–is more of a gimmick than a satisfying conclusion. The `circle’ could have been so much stronger and made the series completely unique but in actual fact a linear narrative with a definite conclusion would have been better than the nonsense played out in the last couple of pages.
In fairness to Dekker, the novel is enjoyable and the other/future world is particularly well thought out in terms of races and religions, but it doesn’t live up to the standard of the original trilogy. The ending in particular cheapens the series as a whole. For those who have read Black, Red and White, it’s probably worth investing in this volume to complete your collection but, in all honesty, Dekker should probably have stopped at White and left the trilogy as the threesome it was originally created to be.