Black

Rating:
Summary: It's about time!
Review: As a consumate reader of fiction I can honestly say that this trilogy penned by Mr. Dekker is perhaps the most absorbing and well executed tales I have ever read. So much so that I am posting this review, my first on Amazon.

Usually I find inspirational fiction less than inspiring, Left Behind being a good example. It's about time popularity and excellance met as they have here. I've seen and heard about Dekker before, but these are the first books of his I've read. I am very impressed. The characters are extreemly rich as we follow them through three completely unique adventures. I haven't shed a tear in a good ten years while reading a novel. That changed on seveal occasions in this trilogy. The plot twists were frequent and unexpected, even to this well read lover of thrillers. But most importantly, Dekker handles moral questions with brilliance. These are books for the heart as well as the mind, and they moved me deeply.

I'm also a great fan of Dean Koontz, and I think Dekker comes closer to his style of storytelling than any other author I've read. Thier writing is very different as Dekker tends to go straight for the juggular rather than slow the pace with long descriptions and abundantly clever wording, and I found his technique very rewarding. Reading one of these books is more like watching a movie than plodding through a long novel. Frankly, I've grown tired of some of the crowned kings of fiction's plodding. As much as I love Stephen King's old stuff, his last several have wandered aimlessly and ended nowhere.

Dekker's style is fresh and lean and definately ends very big. I have found a new author who has managed to thrill me to the bone. It's about time. I will read more from Dekker, to be sure.


Rating:
Summary: Suprisingly Slow
Review: Black is a novel written around a theme. This can be a good thing, if the story is well-constructed around that theme with strong characters and a solid plot. Unfortunately Black has neither.
My first and most serious complaint about Black is that it's predictable. You see the plot twists way before the characters do, and in such a way that instead of building tension, the plot builds impatience for either something to happen (please!) or the book to end.
Second, the characters are two-dimensional. There is very little about any of them that makes them real, even Tom, the lead character, who more often irritated than inspired me. Most of the characters in the "ancient world" (or current world as it would seem to the reader) are little more than stereotypes. You have the sister/mother/nurse character who takes care of Tom, the Shadow lurking behind his grand schemes, the hitman, the politician, etc. While in a themed novel/allegory stereotypical characters are fairly standard, they still must be developed with enough personality to make them interesting. The characters in the colored forest are even less compelling.
Third, while I am a huge Peretti and Dean Koontz fan (authors Mr. Dekker has been compared to, apparently) I don't see the resemblance. Neither "reality" was all that engrossing, the classic battle between good and evil was virtually nonexistent, and I honestly couldn't suspend my disbelief long enough to get into this novel (not usually a problem).
There were also a lot of point-of-view changes between paragraphs that were at times disorienting. The story is from Tom's perspective, but too often the thoughts and views of others intruded. This is being nit-picky, but it's something my mentors have drilled into me for years.
I was looking forward to this read, and I must say I'm sorely disappointed. I won't be finishing the series.

Rating:
Summary: Honestly?
Review: How does this book have a 5 star reveiwer rating? I picked up this book and got halfway through it before realizing it was going absolutely nowhere. If you enjoy simple, elementary allegory and drawn out stories for the sake of selling three books, this is the book for you. Otherwise, skip it.

Rating:
Summary: Sorry, I Couldn't Give It 5 Stars!
Review: I couldn't do it. Maybe I shouldn't have read the reviews here before reading the book? Don't get me wrong, it was a good book, but not 5 stars good, probably only 3 1/2 stars good.

I'm a fan of "The Matrix" and "LTR Trilogy", so I'm not being picky. I think it was the it was presented that I couldn't get into it. It took me a while to get past the "dream" thing and how silly the "future" world was. Once I got past that and got over how silly it all sounded to me, the book took off in the middle somwhere. At the beginning we were flashing back and forth to the realities so quickly, I got discouraged. But, I pushed through and finished the book just hours ago.

Originally, I wasn't even going to finish it and definately wasn't going to read the second book, but I'm giving it a try. I'm hoping Red, the second one, is better. If it isn't, I'm done with Dekker.

Rating:
Summary: The best book I have read in years
Review: I read at least one book per week and have never used the term "mind-blowing" before to describe one. Let me just tell you: Black is mind-blowing.

Ted Dekker has officially established himself as the true replacement in fiction for C.S. Lewis. Not since Lewis and Tolkien has a writer used fiction to invade a person's reality the way that Dekker does. You are left "chewing your cud" for weeks after reading this book.

Black illustrates plainly the unseen battle between good and evil in an intimate way. If you didn't believe before that there is another dimension to this life, Black convinces you beyond the shadow of a doubt.

The character Tanis destroyed the colored forest with a simple decision to taste the fruit and water offered to him by Teeleh. Dekker shows well how the simple decisions that we make daily can and do have far reaching consequences.

If you have never read a book by Ted Dekker, you will want to read them all after reading this one. Get it. You won't be disappointed.

And... it is only the first of a trilogy. The second, Red, will be released in May and White will be released in September.

Dekker fans, like myself, are having a hard time reading other books as we wait rather impatiently for Red. Some of us are left to reread Black numerous times. It gets even better each time I read it.

Good job, Ted. Be blessed.

Rating:
Summary: BLACK- Book One in the "Circle" trilogy.
Review: I stumbled across this book in the bookstore and decided to try it out. I was well rewarded. It is pretty different from anything I've ever read before. In the spirit of full disclosure:

I am a Christian and I truely enjoyed the "dream world" descriptions. I also liked all of the allegory woven throughout. I'm sure I'll have to reread to catch everything. I read the entire book in one setting because I couldn't put it down. It was as much a page turner as Di vinci Code. I do agree with another reviewer in that there were a few instances where I became frustrated with the author, feeling as if he was stretching out screens that could have easily been condensed without removing the value of the passage. Overall I still give this book 5 stars. The unique fantasy imagery, the page-turner quality, and the lack of filth in the dialogue is enough to warrant it, but it's contains much more than that. And I am ordering book 2 and 3 as soon as I finish typing this review. You should too. You will enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: A New Era for fiction
Review: The first thought on your mind when you read my heading is that I'm overstating the case, as so many reviews tend to do. But this new novel by Ted Dekker honestly does signal a new era in fiction. Never have I read a novel so riviting and so meaningful, which spanned so many ideas and crossed so many genres as Black.

And it worked. Right down to the last page it absolutely worked.

Thomas Hunter is a struggling novelist who is thrown into a dream world that he mistakes for the real world. Unless of course, his dream world IS the real world and the one he assumed was real is really the dream world. Using this device, Black takes the reader on a roller coaster ride in parallel realities in which Hunter is faced with the potential destruction of both worlds due to his own unwitting choices. The twists and turns work into a beautiful symphony of meaning which climaxes with a cliff hanger.

The story is complex and engaging. This is my second Dekker novel, the first being "Three." I don't ordinarily post reviews, but this one demands it. Fantastic book! Very different from Three, but ultimately far more satisfying.

Thank God the next installment, RED, is due out May rather than the typical year wait.

Rating:
Summary: Great start to a trilogy.
Review: This first installment of a trilogy by Ted Dekker is a well-paced story that leaves the reader turning pages and wanting to move on to book number two. A mixture of fantasy and action adventure. Great reading! Another great new mystery for Christian readers, but with younger heroes, is "The Curse of Durgan's Reef", by Bruce Conn.

Rating:
Summary: The Birth of Evil
Review: This is a fascinating story about the power of evil and the consequences of human choice. Centered around a central character whose dreams propel him back and forth between two realities, this is an exciting and suspenseful book with a powerful theological sub-plot. I greatly enjoyed it!

Rating:
Summary: If I knew then what I know now ...
Review: Unfortunately, I ordered BLACK before some of the later (January 2005) reviews were written. Had I known then what I know now, I might not have ordered it. Don't get me wrong. The story line is fascinating and definitely holds your attention as you try to guess which 'dream' is the 'real' world (that's why I'm giving it 4 stars).

What I didn't know ahead of time is that the book (in fact, from what I've read in the reviews, the entire trilogy) has a Christian theme. Throughout the text are subtle references to biblical events and themes (the colored forest, the evil Teeleh, the Great Romance, Tanis the 'first-born,' etc). Since this is no longer my faith of choice, for me, these analogies took away from the suspense and intrigue of an otherwise great book.

Those of you who favor Christianity will most likely savor the author's treatment of the basic tenets of your faith while enjoying a captivating ride through two realities.