So I was pretty impressed with myself for finishing this book in a week, I haven’t done that in awhile. Some people could read this in a matter of hours, but I’m a somewhat slow reader.

Anyways, this book is the second in Ted Dekker’s Circle Trilogy, with the first installment being Black, which I read back in October. Obviously after reading the first I wasn’t in a huge hurry to find out what happened next. Dekker’s story is very interesting, verging on really cool, but I just am not a fan of his writing style and I can’t quite say why. I think it’s because if I were to write a book I could see myself writing in a similar way.

Anyways, Black was pretty good, but I’ve got a few problems with Red. First of all, it never says what specifically is wrong with the Forest People’s way of conducting the “Great Romance.” It did say a few things like, “Sometimes the Great Romance felt more like a set of rules than actual romance,” which implies that the Great Romance had become more of an outward ritual for some, instead of an actual condition of the heart. However, I felt that not enough time was devoted to talking about what had gone wrong with the it, so when Justin comes along the reader is unsure if he’s good or bad.

So Justin comes along and starts preaching against the Great Romance and speaking of peace with the Horde. Maybe Dekker wants the reader to be unsure about Justin up until the end, just like Thomas and Rachelle, but I wasn’t impressed with the method. I understood what Ted was trying to convey because I’m a Christian and know what he’s alluding to, but I don’t know how a non-Christian could even make sense of what was going on. The history and theology of the Great Romance and Justin’s teachings just weren’t given enough face time for the whole thing to read smoothly. For me, anyways.

Then again, I have one more book to go; maybe more will be explained in White.