Black (novel)

Black: The Birth of Evil
Author Ted Dekker
Country United States
Language English
Series The Circle Series
Genre Christian, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller
Publisher Thomas Nelson
Publication date
 2004, 2009
Media type Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Audiobook
Pages 432
ISBN 1-59554-021-0
OCLC 53131188
Preceded by Green: The Beginning and the End
Followed by Red: The Heroic Rescue

Black: The Birth of Evil is a novel written by author Ted Dekker. It is the first book in the Circle Series, and is a part of the Books of History Chronicles.

Plot summary

This book is about a man named Thomas Hunter in Denver, Colorado, 2010, who, after being knocked unconscious from a bullet wound to the head, wakes up to find himself in a strange world full of black, twisted trees. After being attacked by evil bats called Shataiki and led out of the Black Forest by a white bat, he is rendered unconscious again due to blood loss. He wakes up to find himself back in Denver.

Startled at the sudden change, he can’t figure out which world is real. He soon discovers that every time he falls asleep, he wakes up in the other world, until he falls asleep there.

Outside of the Black Forest is the Colored Forest, a paradise inhabited by a civilization of immortal-yet innocent-human beings who are watched over by Elyon, a God-like being, along with white, bat-like Roush, who are opposites of the Shataiki and act as servants of Elyon.

Thomas eventually finds out that this other world is our own thousands of years in the future, and that a virus, mutated from the Raison vaccine, would wipe out his present-day Earth later that year.

Thomas is forced to fight evil in both worlds, a difficult prospect, for while evil is portrayed differently in each reality, it is equally as potent, and Thomas quickly finds that putting a stop to an event of apocalyptic proportions is no easy task.

Characters

Symbolism

The tale in Black represents the story of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden, although there are many more than two people living in the paradise on Other Earth. Elyon represents God ("Elyon" is one of the various names of God), Teeleh represents Satan, the Shataiki represent Demons, the Roush represent Angels (particularly Michael and Gabriel), and the character Tanis represents Adam.

The title, "Black", refers to the color of the Shataiki and the "Black Forest", in contrast to the luminescent colored forest, but more importantly black is the color commonly associated with sinners' hearts in the Christian tradition, and of the world before Jesus Christ came to heal the curse of Adam.

Genesis: The Birth of an Idea

As part of a promotional campaign called "Share the Love" in which participants would preorder three or more copies of Dekker's newest book, The Priest's Graveyard, he offered various incentives. Anyone who bought three or more copies of The Priest's Graveyard would receive a free copy of one of Ted's older manuscripts known as Genesis. It is a very early version of Black, and while it contains many of the same events and elements of Black, it is a completely different story with "over 50% new story content."

External links