Elyon (The Lost Books #6)

The quest continues for control of the Shataiki. Will it be the dark priest Sucrow or Leedhan possessed Johnis? Elyon picks up where Lunatic ended. Darsal is still a slave to Marak with Eylon's command to love the horde. Johnis continues to struggle for control of the Leedhan that now directs his thoughts and actions. The ongoing power struggle between Sucrow and Marak intensifies with both yearning to eliminate the albinos. Is this the end for The Circle?After reading almost thirty Ted Dekker books, I've come to appreciate his writing and have certain expectations. He's written books that I've loved, some that were duds, and others that are average (for him). However, he also has some books that are absolutely incredible and Elyon qualifies as incredible.My favorite Dekker book is White. I don't think there will ever come a point when I'm tired of it. It's simply amazing. Elyon reminded me a lot of White. It had the same intensity, the same passion, the same beautiful portrayal of God.As Elyon progresses, the story falls into utter darkness. Dekker is pretty much a master at setting up dark scenes and contrasting them with God's light. What was slightly different about Elyon is the depth of the darkness. It wasn't just Teelah and the Horde disease's deception, there was the addition of the Leedhan. Shaeda was an excellent addition to this series. Half shatikka, half horde, she was an interesting blend of evil. She was absolutely beautiful, but there was nothing good in her. She wasn't just bent on evil, she was set on domination and revenge. She used her power only to advance her cause. She equated to a demon and as such, she had limits to her control. This was the part that I loved. She could tempt, she could entice, but she could not control Elyon's children.**SPOILER for WHITE**As mentioned earlier, I thought Elyon was similar to White. In most ways it worked, but I would have preferred a little bit more original plot with Darsal. We know from Lunatic, she's commanded to love Marak. There were several instances that were similar to White--the initial repulsiveness, the submitting to slavery, resistance to love, and the scab's slow softening. It was still a good story line, just lost some of its effectiveness because it has already been done.**END SPOILER**The ending of Elyon is rather interesting. I'm not sure if it'll be wrapped up in Green or if we're left to consider this the end or if there are plans to further the series. There's still quite a few questions left and I can definitely see where there is room for more books. However, I was happy with where things left off. It was a strong book and a great conclusion to the series.

Great book, written by a great novelist. Author and I don't know how he gets these ideas but they are great!

An excellent ending to a fast paced, exciting, hard to put down series suitable for anyone from young teen to old adults

I'm 28, but these are more for the teenage range of reader. I read the book, because it was a continuation of the Circle series. Its definitely meant for the younger reader, but I liked it because it was a light read. Its an amazingly fun series. He is a fascinating writer and all of his books are not afraid to dive into some pretty dark and intense places of life and the human mind. I loved them!

This was a good end to the series. It had lots of good action and tied all the loose ends up from the series. However, it seems like there might be another separate series based on this series since the Lost Books sorta of ended with an open ending.

I love all Ted Dekker books. If you buy elyon you need to get the circle series and one called green. They are wonderful.

I have to say Ted and his co Author amazed me in this book. It is a fast read, hold onto your hats! You don't know what's going to happen next as our Heros taste the other side! But it also shows how God always, always, ALWAYS Prevail, God is never early, but he is never late. Love this book! And the whole series!

Elyon is the (currently) final book in the Lost Books series, though these last two books have almost nothing to do with the Lost books themselves, or for that matter, the story that unfolded in the first 4 books at all. The 4 book arc that started pretty well and ended very well is followed up by this 2 book mini-arc which follows Johnis, Silvie and Darcal back into Middle, but 5 years later after the horde has taken over the forests and Thomas Hunter and the circle are on the run or in hiding.While this book was a slight step up from Lunatic in terms of writing, it was really bogged down by several problems that make me think there wasn't nearly enough work that went into putting this story together. Almost all the humor is gone and replaced with a dark, oppressive tone with satanic forces constantly attacking the group from all sides. While there was a fair amount of action, the narrative was not very well done in places and the story was hard to follow from time to time. Also detracting from the story is 2 out of the 3 main characters were not written anything like they were in the previous 4 books so I didn't even recognize them. Granted, in this last book they were not only "scabs", but also heavily under vampiric/demonic possession, but still, there wasn't even a hint of who they used to be. Even worse, Darcal and Marak's story is a complete and blatant retread of Thomas and Chelise's romance in White, but not nearly as well written so that really hurt the book as well.Really, all in all these two books should have probably been given quite a bit more work or told a different story because they're pretty anti-climactic compared to the first 4 books or the rest of the circle series. While the writing in places was pretty compelling and the action pretty intense, the story was so sloppy that it made it difficult to really get into. The completest in me compelled me to read these last two books despite some pretty negative reviews of the last two books and after reading them, I tend to agree that by and large, they are not well written. They're not quite the 1 star far that some of the reviews have made them out to be either, but they certainly aren't Ted's best works. Read them in you need to complete the series, but lower your expectations and critical thinking skills before you go into it and just enjoy the books as best as you can.

A really exciting fantasy world with clear lines between good and evil

ees mijn eerdere recensie van een deel van deze serie, zowel begrijpelijk voor kinderen vanaf 12 jaar tot volwassenen