Briefly imagine for a moment that a mad scientist decided to fuse together “The Matrix” with “Lord of the Rings”, just to see what would happen. As it just so happens, such a mad scientist exists. His name is Ted Dekker, and the result of his crazy experiment is “Black, one of the most engaging novels I have read in years. A wild combination of thriller and fantasy unlike anything I have ever read.
Some books like to approach you subtly, attempting to slowly win you over. “Black” does no such thing, preferring to kick open the door. The story involves a young man named Thomas Hunter, who is your stereotypical drifter. Gifted, but not making much use of any of his talents. After being assaulted and then clipped with a bullet, Thomas wakes up into another reality. A world that knows nothing of technology, or the march of progress. It would seem to be nothing more than a hallucination, only Thomas quickly learns that the inhabitants have stories about a world similar to his. A world that was destroyed by an unknown force.
To call “Black” original would be an understatement. Upon reading it, I simply couldn’t put it down. Halfway through the book I thought to myself that this was one of the most mind bending books I’ve ever read. I found that I was unable to predict what would happen next. The story follows Thomas as he is stuck in a cycle of waking up in different worlds, and unable to figure out which one is real. This quick becomes a problem as Thomas discovers that in his reality, the world will soon end from a bizarre illness known as the Raison strain. Whereas in the other world, the peaceful inhabitants are threatened by monstrous creatures known as the Shataiki. To further complicate matters, no matter which world Thomas is stuck in, he still takes damage.
Dekker’s imagination is certainly prolific, I’ll have to give him that. Thankfully the glue that makes all of this stick is how the story is about real struggles. While Thomas’ adventures seem fantastical to the point of being unreal, his adventure ultimately takes him to discovering his purpose and meeting the Creator of the universe. “Black” is at its heart a re-telling of the fall of men from Genesis. The peaceful inhabitants occupy an Eden-like world, while a monstrous entity called Teelah, sits at the outskirt, tempting the inhabitants. The book navigates through deep subjects such as loss, forgiveness, redemption and purpose. One of the core elements is a concept called ‘the great romance’. All inhabitants of this other dimension live their lives in pursuit of what the call “the Great Romance”, passionate pursuit of truth, and beauty. As the Creator Elyon made his creation out of love and joy, and therefore that is what his creation is to pursue as well.
Dekker’s writing style is nothing short of phenomenal. There are times where it would be tempting to dismiss some of the story’s wilder elements, were it not for the there dimensional way he draws his characters. Ever scene is taunt, and with every scene Dekker adds another layer to this multi-faceted story. In the midst of suspenseful chase scenes and intense action sequence, Dekker still finds time to build complex relationships with his cast of characters. There is no over-wrought dialogue or clunky scenery to work through. This is remarkable given this is a story involving Roush, described as ‘furry, white bats’ and Shatakai, giant, bat-like creatures with yellow teeth.
“Black” is a novel not afraid to tackle serious themes. One of the major themes of the story is the origin of evil. What was it that originally corrupted the human race? Where we always evil? Or where we originally good? Dekker moves even further than that discussing themes of a loving Creator that wishes for his creation to be redeemed. None of this is done in a way that was overbearing. Rather Dekker presents his Christian faith in a way that is touching and heartfelt.
“Black is unquestionably one of the best novels I have ever read. 10/10 easily. A wild thrill ride that is multilayered and complex. I will warn you to make sure you have the sequel at the ready, because you will certainly want to read it immediately.
