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A review by michaelknipp
Green: The Beginning and the End by Ted Dekker
5.0
A bit more of a personal take than my usual reviews:
The original Circle trilogy was so important to my developing imagination with the way that it could tell such a powerful fictional story and blend it so heavily with spiritual Allegory. This was a different take on the Chronicles of Narnia type storytelling that incorporated a mature thriller story in tandem with its parables. Green was published in 2009 and I never got around to it. I had caught up on the rest of Dekker's Circle related books ([b:Showdown|456057|Showdown (Paradise, #1)|Ted Dekker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329547365l/456057._SX50_.jpg|2507883], [b:Saint|125959|Saint (Paradise, #2)|Ted Dekker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1439004991l/125959._SY75_.jpg|681577], and [b:Sinner|3047320|Sinner (Paradise, #3)|Ted Dekker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432695665l/3047320._SY75_.jpg|3077979] as well as the Lost Books series and even many of Dekker's "stand-alone" novels which had slight tie ins potentially to the events of the Circle series. I never completed the circle by reading Green.
10 years after it was originally published, I have come back to the Circle to see the conclusion of its story. In a way it was a cool effect having been away from the story so long. The characters I loved so much were back in my life. Unfortunately, the tale of Green is a very dark and twisted one. In many ways, Green is to the Circle as [b:The Last Battle|84369|The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia, #7)|C.S. Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308814830l/84369._SY75_.jpg|1059917] is to C.S. Lewis' Narnia. The difference here being that Dekker chose a satisfying ending to his fiction over one that truly wraps up his allegory in a scriptural way.
After all of this time there is a warmth in my heart for this series. It is so action packed and so full of strong themes. I have to admit tearing up a couple times during my experience with Green. Everything comes to such a dark and suspenseful climax that, once the story got moving, I couldn't stop. Now that it is over I am clamoring for the alternate ending that was offered later as well.
Nevertheless, thank you Ted Dekker for the conclusion to this series which has never left my head -- even years after reading it.
The original Circle trilogy was so important to my developing imagination with the way that it could tell such a powerful fictional story and blend it so heavily with spiritual Allegory. This was a different take on the Chronicles of Narnia type storytelling that incorporated a mature thriller story in tandem with its parables. Green was published in 2009 and I never got around to it. I had caught up on the rest of Dekker's Circle related books ([b:Showdown|456057|Showdown (Paradise, #1)|Ted Dekker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329547365l/456057._SX50_.jpg|2507883], [b:Saint|125959|Saint (Paradise, #2)|Ted Dekker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1439004991l/125959._SY75_.jpg|681577], and [b:Sinner|3047320|Sinner (Paradise, #3)|Ted Dekker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1432695665l/3047320._SY75_.jpg|3077979] as well as the Lost Books series and even many of Dekker's "stand-alone" novels which had slight tie ins potentially to the events of the Circle series. I never completed the circle by reading Green.
10 years after it was originally published, I have come back to the Circle to see the conclusion of its story. In a way it was a cool effect having been away from the story so long. The characters I loved so much were back in my life. Unfortunately, the tale of Green is a very dark and twisted one. In many ways, Green is to the Circle as [b:The Last Battle|84369|The Last Battle (Chronicles of Narnia, #7)|C.S. Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1308814830l/84369._SY75_.jpg|1059917] is to C.S. Lewis' Narnia. The difference here being that Dekker chose a satisfying ending to his fiction over one that truly wraps up his allegory in a scriptural way.
After all of this time there is a warmth in my heart for this series. It is so action packed and so full of strong themes. I have to admit tearing up a couple times during my experience with Green. Everything comes to such a dark and suspenseful climax that, once the story got moving, I couldn't stop. Now that it is over I am clamoring for the alternate ending that was offered later as well.
Nevertheless, thank you Ted Dekker for the conclusion to this series which has never left my head -- even years after reading it.