Throwback Thursday Book Edition #3: The Lost Books series (1-4) by Ted Dekker

Picture from GoodReads

General Analysis

Series Title: The Lost Books (books 1-4)

Author: Ted Dekker

Publish Dates: 2007-2008

Genre: Young Adult, Christian Fiction, Fantasy

Plot for Chosen (from GoodReads):  Think with your heart and prepare to die . . . for you have been Chosen.

Thomas Hunter, supreme commander of the Forest Guard, has seen a great evil decimate much of his beautiful world. With a dwindling army and an epic threat, Thomas is forced to supplement his fighters with new recruits ages 16 and 17. From thousands, four will be chosen to lead a special mission.

Unknown to Thomas, the chosen four are redirected to a different endgame. They must find the seven lost Books of History before the Dark One. For these seven books have immense power over the past, present, and future, controlling not only the destiny of their world . . . but that of ours as well.

Why and When I Read This Book: I started reading the Circle trilogy, the companion series to the Lost books series, in middle school and I loved them.  I started reading this series in high school, but I only owned the first 4 books.  I now own the last 2 books as well and I hope to read them very soon!

  

In Depth Analysis

This series is a fantasy series that is just amazing.  The world that Ted Dekker created is so detailed and so beautiful.  The concepts behind this book are so unique.  I don't want to give away too much, but this series and the Circle series are closely related in that the main character in this series is also the main character in the Circle trilogy.  The Circle trilogy is set in the "real world"; whereas, the Lost books series is set in an amazing fantasy world.  I cannot explain exactly how this is possible without giving away too much information about the books, this unique concept is one of the reasons that I love this series.

Another reason that I love this series is that one of the main themes is good versus evil.  Unlike a lot of authors, Ted Dekker makes out evil for what it really is: dark and sinful.  He also illustrates the Love that God has for all of his children and contrasts this to the ideals of the evil character and by doing this shows how great God truly is.  I think it is important to show the darkness of evil not only to warn against it, but also to use it to show what true Love is and that God is whom we should seek after always.

This fantasy novel is great for those who love a good adventurous story full of action.  I would also recommend Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy to read along with this series.  The chronological order of the books is Green ("The Beginning and the End" to the Circle Trilogy), Black (Circle Trilogy), the Lost Books series, Red (Circle trilogy), and then White (Circle Trilogy), but either series can be read first and still be easily understood.  Next week's Throwback Thursday will be on the Circle Trilogy.

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age: 10 and up.  There are some violent scenes, but that are not graphic (if I remember correctly).

Overall Rating: 5/5