How does Ted Dekker one up the glorious mad science experiment that was “Black”? The answer is simple, by raising the stakes even higher in the sequel ‘Red’. Some people say the sequel is never as good as the original, but I disagree. There are fewer better examples that I could bring up than ‘Red’.
It’s been ten years since Thomas Hunter has lived in the alternate world. Since then he has become a leader in his community, raised a family, and defended his home against The Horde. Dekker manages to one up his previous novel by introducing a number of new elements to the story. The Horde being at the center f it ll. After the destruction of the perfect, Eden-like world, any inhabitants that ate of the forbidden fruit have now become ‘Sabs’. Diseased shells of their former selves. The Scabs have formed an alliance with one another and become ‘The Horde’, a massive army bent on domination and destruction. Yet even in the midst of such chaos, hope remains. Elyon has made a way for people to become healed and restored. Those who have been restored are part of ‘the circle’, a community devoted to preserving the ways of Elyon. Inorder to save his new daily, Thomas must go back to his old life and save the world from the impending Raison strain virus.
“Black” blew my mind, and ‘Red’ absolutely floored me. Dekker skillfully continues his story by bringing it to near epic levels. The levels of complexity and depth in ‘Red’ are nothing short of impressive. There is plenty of action, even more so than the last novel. And the world building is absolutely top notch. Yet, as impressive as these feats are, this is not the secret sauce that makes ‘Red’ such a great read/
The core of ‘Red’ is the war between the Horde and the Circle. Thomas constantly wrestles with the fact he is warring against what was once his own people. The disease that has infected the Scabs have infected everyone. Every day, those two have joined the Circle must immerse themselves in Elyons healing waters. A constant reminder that evil is never far away.
Fleshing out the Horde is no simple feat. After being infected with the terrible skin disease, it appears their minds have been infected as well. They have moved from the worship of Elyon to Teelah, the very creature that out them in this position. As simple as it would be to simply dive into the healing waters, the Scabs would rather do anything, including die, than do the one thing that would heal them. What makes this complex is that Scabs hate their existence, yet conversely they will not do the very thing that would heal them and set them free.
As much time as Dekker spends developing the war between the two tribes, he also spends time with the present day reality. What was ten years for Thomas has been mere hours for the current time. The threat of the Raison strain has not dissipated. The world has only a few weeks before all life is destroyed by this mysterious virus. In a sense what Dekker has given us is really two books rolled into one. The amount of tension and emotion Dekker manages to weave together as Thomas attempts to bridge the gaps between his very different lies is nothing short of amazing.
Overall ‘Red’ manages to improve on the original masterpiece in every way. An absolute 10/10.
