Ted Dekker is always discounted at Schoolhouse Publishing!

Dekker is the favorite author of two of my sons. I had no interest in reading any of these books, but my oldest son continued to push me: "Mom, you've got to read his books." I finally broke down and read one called Blink which I really enjoyed. Though we're not selling this one, it's worth looking into, exploring the false foundations of Islam. Anyway, I digress. That first taste of Dekker prepared me to read Black. I'll be honest that there's not much to it other than entertainment. Similar in premise to CS Lewis's Narnia series, you have alternate realities going on. Just as in Narnia, there is a Messiah figure, creation, the fall, and redemption. So, now I ask you, other than the obvious parallel between Narnia and the Bible, would YOU say there is more than entertainment value in the Narnia series? That might help you to decide whether or not there is more to the Circle Series. The books are absolutely heart-stopping. Having said that, I offer this caution. This series of stories has lots of violence. There are very bad, antichrist-type figures who are bent on destroying the world. They succeed in evilly destroying hundreds of innocent people - and enjoying it. In fact, just as in the biblical account of Armegeddon, this 'end-times'-style story doesn't end well for the people of either reality. You'll have to read all the way to the end of book 3 to get the 'good' ending. One last personal opinion:  Originally the series had only three books (Black, Red, and White). This trilogy stood alone as a complete series.  Later a 4th book was added (Green) that turned the trilogy into a never-ending circular story.  I personally didn't care for Green as much as the other 3 books.  It was more violent and twisted (having to do with end-times scenarios).  I would have quite happily read just the original trilogy.  I leave it to you whether or not you want to complete the circle. After I read this series (per my sons' insistence), I asked my husband to read them (he seldom reads for pleasure). He was totally hooked, and very frustrated, because the books were so good, he couldn't put them down to accomplish more important things. So, now you are warned. I also want to mention that sandwiched in between the second and third titles of this series is another series of novels for teens (The Lost Books series), based on the same story and characters.