Rise of the Mystics

I'm a big fan of Ted Dekker, and the Circle books, especially. I loved The 49th Mystic and I was ready for more. Except that it felt like the story was hijacked and reset to me. I won't spoil anything here, but there is an explanation.

Still, I had a hard time diving back in. So much so that I was distracted easily enough to take time with a couple of library holds that became available while I put this one on hold. I feel sad about that. In the past, I've found I understand Dekker's books better on a second reading than the first, and that may be true of this one.

The five seals continue to be the heart of the story. In my polarity, I find myself wondering if Dekker subscribes to election theology or the idea that God will save all in the end, regardless of whether they accepted His love on this earth. But I think to focus on those details detracts from the greater message, which is best for the reader to work out for oneself.

Generally, books that bring me closer to the heart of God get five stars. And I would say this book did that. So why four stars? It seemed to me Dekker did a lot of explaining in this book. He worked hard to make it part of the story, but it still was a lot of explaining on how and why things worked. The ideas I see him portraying are such that they need explaining for most of us, so I'm not sure how he would get around that. Perhaps next time I read this book I will see it differently.

The message of this book is fantastic. I simply was thrown for some loops that I didn't follow well and got distracted by ideas I was afraid he was promoting, which he may or may not have been. I look forward to reading this series again in the future.