Reviewed by Stephen: 10 out of 10.

As foretold by ancient prophets, an apocalypse destroyed Earth during the twenty-first century. But two thousand years later Elyon set upon the earth a new Adam. This time, however, He gave humanity an advantage. What was once unseen became seen. It was good and it was called…Green. Enter an apocalyptic story like none you have read. A story with links to our own history so shocking that you will forget you are in another world at all. Welcome to Green. Book Zero.

If you read my review of The Circle Trilogy earlier this year then you would probably understand my undulated excitement when Ted Dekker announced that he would be writing another book for The Circle Series entitled Green.

As with any series you hold in the highest regard, there can be a niggling suspicion that a new addition to the scene will not only spoil the series for you, but also lower the credibility and enjoyment of the other books in your mind as well. Thankfully, Green was not one of those sour cases . . . for the most part. New characters, new twists, and a whole new life and dimension to the already flourishing Circle were just the start of the positives to this book; but, and yes, there’s a but . . . there was also a very strange ending to the Circle saga. Was I disappointed with said ending? I’ll get to that soon.

The insights in this book run as deep as Elyon’s lakes, and were not only a great encouragement to read, but also a tremendous revelation as well. The critics have accused this book many times for containing far too much glorification of evil and not dwelling enough on the light. Hm. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: In order to truly appreciate the light, one must first realise the depth and inescapable nature of the pit of evil they are, or were, in. If you see the antidote without first seeing the shocking disease, you will probably scorn the cure.

Getting back to my thoughts on the ending of Green, I am very much at an impasse. At the end of Green, coming “full circle” as Ted calls it has left a somewhat chaotic response from fans. Many object to the ending and its surface implications. Without giving away too much of critical value to the story, and a reader’s initial impressions thereof, I simply cannot decide whether the ending is Ted’s biggest blunder or his biggest stroke of brilliance. It took a month of mulling to truly get my head around said ending, and my thoughts now to the virgin reader would be to tackle the end of Green with an open mind and to try to look beyond the glaringly obvious into a completely new world. Think outside the square to a circle that ends, yet does not. You might hate the ending, you might love it. Either way, the book still gets a 10-star rating from me. The story is just that good.

Speaking of books (funny to be doing that on a book review site, I know), I have not read a book that I could not put down in quite a long time. Green was definitely a welcome, furious-page-turning change. If you’re looking for the best kind of suspense–that which is truly suspenseful while maintaining significantly deep spiritual parallels–then look no further than Green and the rest of The Circle Series.

“Dive deep into a world of colour. Of Green, of Black, of Red, of White.”