Rise of the Mystics

Rise of the Mystics (Beyond the Circle #2)
By: Ted Dekker

So. I'll be honest, I wasn't very invested in this story.

I had to complete the duology but I wasn't loving it. It was a chore to read. I like that Dekker was trying to incorporate Scripture in an allegorical way, but it really felt New-Agey and applied a bit sketchily. And the theology is so embedded and central to the plot and the dialogue that you can't really just ignore it and read it for the story.

It got exhausting and repetitive. If you take out all of Talya's teachings and explanations and descriptions of what the Seals were and how Rachelle felt about them the book would probably only be 10 pages long.

Plus, it would seem this is the fiction companion to Rob Bell's Love Wins campaign which I find a little alarming. The Bible is pretty clear that hell is real and people will go there. I now question all of Dekker's theology and handling of Scripture. If he writes any more books along this topic I won't be reading them. Even if his theology was kosher, his writing was not accessible or easy to follow. A lot of times I had to reread paragraphs to understand what he was trying to get at, and other times I didn't even bother to try.

I'm a bit surprised by his decision to write it in the way he did, because I think it will pretty quickly alienate a lot of his readers. All that to say, it pains me to say, because Dekker has always been my favorite author (one I've committed to owning all his books) but from now on I'll have to specify 'early-Dekker' books and find a new favorite author.