Red

The story from Black continues, Thomas of Hunter is now a great warrior facing the Horde. He hasn't dreamed in 15 years, but a new threat brings him back to the 21st century and the threat from the Raison strain. The two differing realities he is locked in seem more tied together than ever, with not only skills and information passing from one to the other but also his blood. And then Rachelle has a dream where she is Monique. So Thomas is trying to figure out how to stop the Raison strain from killing the Earth's population in one reality, and how to stop the Horde from overtaking the forests in the other. A mystical prophet named Justin of Southern further complicates the puzzle--is he a traitor or a prophet.






Style show more Characterisics: Pacing, clarity, structure, narrative devices, etc.
Very fast paced, almost dizzying. The spiritual allegory type stuff has the reader guessing at times who/what is right or wrong. Especially when the people in one world correspond to someone from the other world. This can be confusing sometimes. But it also adds an element of mystery that added on top of the action creates a book you can't put down. The characters, like a lot of suspense stories, tend to be flat. They are really more part of the fantastic world Dekker has created--this is a very visual book.






How Good is it?
An adrenaline laced read, great entertainment with a intriguing spiritual underlayer that reinterprets the Biblical story in a fresh way show less

This review is being written four years after the fact. My father recommended this series, otherwise I would never have picked it up. I enjoyed it at the time, though a lot of stuff bugged me; namely, that the "real world" plot was pretty unbelievable, and the "alternate world" plot got fairly heavy-handed with Christian allegory.

That said, four years later, a lot of the imagery from this series has stuck with me. If I thought it a bit hokey back then, now I'd say it's more enjoyable in hindsight, and maybe more powerful. I have a feeling that if I reread it today, it would disappoint; but I can see myself recommending it to my kids when they reach their teens.

A life turned upside down and inside out is the life of Thomas Hunter. As he teeters between two not-so-different worlds, Thomas finds himself racing against time to advert destruction. In our world, it is a race to find a cure for the Raison Strain-a virus that has annihilating properties. A monumental battle against the ever-imposing Horde is on the horizon as the Forest people begin falling apart at the seams in Thomas' dream world.

Ted Dekker's second book keeps the reader comple...more A life turned upside down and inside out is the life of Thomas Hunter. As he teeters between two not-so-different worlds, Thomas finds himself racing against time to advert destruction. In our world, it is a race to find a cure for the Raison Strain-a show more virus that has annihilating properties. A monumental battle against the ever-imposing Horde is on the horizon as the Forest people begin falling apart at the seams in Thomas' dream world.

Ted Dekker's second book keeps the reader completely engaged. It is a fast moving storyline on both world accounts. In the midst of journeying with Thomas' characters between the two worlds, the reader begins to contemplate which world is the real world and which is the dream world. The characters are well-written and believable. It is easy to relate to the characters as exciting to see them develop even further. Dekker's writing pulls the reader in to the point of feeling in the middle of it all. It is a book packed with action, sacrifice, suspense, and above all, love. Though this book has Christian undertones, it can easily be enjoyed by any reader. This is a book I would recommend to anyone who enjoys fantasy and suspense. show less

It took me way too long to read this. About 2/3 of the way through, I finally got sucked in and read the last bit really quickly. That last 1/3 was overwhelmingly powerful. The final scenes with Justin and Elyon and the children and Thomas and Johan and Rachelle were so evocative of the gospel that it brought me to tears. Granted, I’m a Christian so the allegory was crystal clear. I’m not sure how someone who is not intimately familiar with Jesus would understand the story. But it really got to me.

Overall, however, I didn’t like this one quite as much as Black, mostly because I had a hard time sorting out the different betrayals that were going on between the Forest People and the Horde, and because I didn’t feel like the story show more on “Earth” moved forward all that much. Still, most of the story — especially in the forest — was compelling. I ended up liking (and therefore caring about) the characters more in this book than Black, too. Always a good thing.

Read my full review here: http://c2rcc.wordpress.com/2010/01/25/5-red-by-ted-dekker/ show less

Dekker's "Red" continues a trilogy begun in "Black" intended to be classic thriller, scifi other-world story, and an allegory for the Christian story of the fall through redemption. Red is better than Black, which was already pretty good, and the allegorical elements came together better this time around, and the characters felt more developed. Very good, and I'm looking forward to the finale!

This one was fast and fun. Even more so than Black. It is a bit of a guilty pleasure, but I have to admit that I couldn't put it down! The action and suspense is great, and although I keep thinking I know what will happen next, I usually get it wrong. I read this one in five days because I thought it was so fun. This is a great allegory and has a whole lot to teach you if you are open to learning from "pop" fiction.

I have to be honest, when I first started on Dekker's first book of the circle trilogy, Black, I was unsure how I would feel about it. But I trekked on and I'm glad I did. I was so sucked into the story.

Red continues and doesn't let you down. Amazing, and wonderful. I can't begin to described how moved I was by this story. And it keeps you on the edge of your seat. You simply can't wait for more.

I can't wait to start White!