Chosen

This was another book that I picked up at the library the other day just because the cover was so intriguing and also the tagline, "think with your heart and prepare to die for you have been chosen" really drew me in. Chosen is the first in the Lost Book series, so the first of four.

"The chosen four are sent on a quest to prove their character, but their mission takes a drawmatic turn when they are intercepted, sworn to secrecy, and redirected to a different endgame. Now they must find the seven lost Books of History. Books that have power over the past, present and future. Books whose words are alive. Books sought by the Dark One that control not only the destiny of their world.....but that of ours as well".

This just sounded great show more from the get-go so I was really excited to read it.

The characters in this book were amongst some of the best that I have read about recently. The main protagonist, Johnis, was an interesting character which is always good since he is the main focus of the novel. Without giving too much away about the story, I found Johnis a likeable character that grew on me as the other characters seemed to warm to him. The other three main characters were also very relatable in some ways and even when they were being horrible to Johnis, you as the reader could understand why this was happening. My favourite character ended up being Gabil who was one of the Roush. I just thought that he was a very funny character that lightened up the novel and added a bit of humour.

The plot was also really good! It drew me in from the start and developed at a good pace, not too quickly and not to slow either. However, this was obviously going to be the beginning of a series because of the way it ended, but on reflection, I think that even if you weren't interested or able to read the rest of the series, this would still be a great read with a really interesting and multifaceted plot with great characters.

The writing made this novel really easy and quick to read. With only 260 words in the hardback addition that I read, this isn't a long novel, but the way it reads made it very quick and it flowed well. I read it only in one day! I think that this book has the right amount of description that shows you enough about this world to make it believable and easy to imagine, without taking over from the narrative.

Overall I would definitely give this book 5 out of 5 stars as I think that it would be a great read for people of any age, female or male. I really do love all of the characters and the world that Ted Dekker has created and having not heard about this book before, I was surprised how much I actually enjoyed this. Chosen has the right balance of humour, suspense, action and romance to keep you hooked from the beginning and ends leaving you wanting more. show less

When I first starting reading this book, I didn't know if I wanted to get caught up in another fantasy world by an author I'd never read before. I'm glad I did, though. This is a book that keeps you reading. There really are no boring parts at all. The author's writing style is easy to read. I was impressed enough to continue reading this series and the related series.

Johnis has already been overlooked for the Forest Guard, a group of soldiers fighting for their lives against the Horde, who have lately started allowing younger fighters join their ranks. Twenty-four contestants are trying to prove to their leader, Thomas Hunter, that they have what it takes to lead in the Guard, but Johnis is able to "think with his heart" and fool them all. Thomas sends him and three others who proved themselves in the contest - Darsal, Silvie, and Billos - to the desert with a task: bring back four, whole cacti by sundown. They will have to work together to do it, but seem more interested in bickering.

Readers of the Circle Trilogy may recognize Thomas Hunter's name - this is set between the first and second books in show more that series and, yes, involves the Books of the Histories. It's been a few years since I read the series, so I had a little trouble fitting the chronology together. Though fast-paced, I thought the writing and character development left much to be desired. In writing for teens, Dekker tells, and rather repetitively at that, instead of letting the reader piece things together or describing a change in a character's thinking in a way that didn't beat you over the head with it. I might read the second book but have yet to be convinced that I need to read the whole series. show less

This isn't a bad book, but I feel like it relies too much on the Circle series. You have to know a lot of background before getting into it, and it works best as a fill-in-the-gaps for people already reading the Circle series. Still, Ted Dekker's writing is good, and the story is decent as well. I didn't feel all that hooked into the final outcome, but I did enjoy the ending and sequel setup well enough.

I'm not sure what I think about this book. I sit here and feel that there is so much to ponder beyond what was written. The story itself is fast paced and you must pay attention for one thing happens after another in a perfect harmony. The characters are great and lovable, while the villains are very much the opposite as should be. I can tell from reading this story that there is so much more in Ted's mind of what is going on and I'm curious about more related books to see what more I can delve from this world. It appears that there is more than one world, and more than one series that connects and I'm curious to learn more.

I'm not sure what I think about this book. I sit here and feel that there is so much to ponder beyond what was written. The story itself is fast paced and you must pay attention for one thing happens after another in a perfect harmony. The characters are great and lovable, while the villains are very much the opposite as should be. I can tell from reading this story that there is so much more in Ted's mind of what is going on and I'm curious about more related books to see what more I can delve from this world. It appears that there is more than one world, and more than one series that connects and I'm curious to learn more.

Johnis was disappointed, but relieved, when he was deemed "too small" to fight in the Forest Guard against the evil Horde. However, due to a chance encounter, the supreme leader Thomas Hunter chooses Johnis as one of his four new captains of the Forest Guard. He, and the 3 other new teenaged captains, are sent out on a mission to prove themselves. They end up proving a lot more than Hunter bargained for. Chosen is the first book in a young adult spin-off series from Ted Dekker's popular series Circle Trilogy: Black / Red / White, and is also related to the Paradise series (of which Showdown is the first). This series is meant to work as a stand-alone, but I would highly recommend reading the Circle Trilogy first, since these are the show more books that build Dekker's fantasy world and Chosen takes place after the events in Red. However, based on reviews of other readers, it's clear that people can enjoy this book even without reading the original trilogy. Either way, this book is good wholesome adventure. show less