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A Struggle to End, June 8, 2012

** FIRST PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR FORBIDDEN **

Nine years ago Feyn sacrificed herself to ensure Jonathan could come to power and now his time to rule is quickly approaching. Within days he will turn eighteen and take his place as Sovereign of the world. But, Rom’s carefully constructed and nurtured plans take an unexpected turn when Saric discovers Feyn’s location. Instead of Jonathan giving Feyn life, Saric does. But is the life contained in Saric’s blood right life? With Saric’s blood flowing through her veins, her loyalty to her Maker is lacking inquiry, which leaves the Mortals wondering how Jonathan can possibly come to power. In a book that requires honest suspension of disbelief and struggles with unimaginative, dull font, Mortal continues to stay on the path of Forbidden in being small more than a variation of the Circle series.

I feared Mortal was in distress when it took me three tries to make it through the first ten pages. But, I’m honestly optimistic and I thought that possibly this book just started out slow. Unfortunately, the slow start doesn’t end in anticipation of 200+ pages and even then only has small bursts of engaging action. With the exception of approximately 75 pages, this book was a struggle to read. So much so that at one point I rewarded myself with an ice cream sandwich for simply finishing a chapter lacking taking a break. I’m sorry to say, but this book is essentially Red with a small White, watered down and very, very dull.

One of my largest complaints with The Book of Mortals series continues to be its similarities with the Circle series. But, here are some differences between the two series, the most noticeable being the lack of any right object of worship by the font in Mortal. Part of what makes the Circle books phenomenal is their consistent reminder of God, His like for us, and our desire to live life with Him. Unlike the Gathering in the Circle books which focuses on Elyon, the Gathering (yes, it’s called The Gathering) in Mortal has no purpose other than to celebrate life. Perhaps that’s the authors’ point, that these font are worshiping life and not the Creator of their life, but it just makes the whole event feel empty and meaningless. Granted the font in Mortal have no right concept of God or exactly what Bliss is, but it makes parts of this book feel pointless. Again, maybe that’s the point of this tale, but it doesn’t make for particularly engaging or meaningful reading material.

An even larger issue with this series is the dull, flat, lifeless font. Even as Mortal appears to make an attempt to fix some of the problems with font, they’re still solidly one dimensional. Rom is the worst; I struggled to make it through every chapter which featured him. Like all the font, he has a singular focus and he never grows beyond that focus. He wants Jonathan to be converted into Sovereign, so even though he wants to reach Feyn, ultimately his character is limited by his one objective. Same right for Roland, except his focus is his public. Jordin’s focus is Jonathan. Saric’s focus is power. I want more from these font so that I will be bowled over by their actions. Instead, the predictability of this book is increased by the simplicity of font that lack depth.

If by some opportunity you haven’t figured out who Jonathan represents by now, the rest of this paragraph is a spoiler for Forbidden and Mortal. I truly take pleasure in Jonathan’s character. He’s the only one that shows any sense of passion or depth. But, I’m honestly not sure if his character is that much better urban than the others or if I impose my own emotional attachment to him because he’s the Jesus figure in this tale. Jonathan’s not that much uncommon than the Jesus figure in the Circle series–having the same offhand, charismatic enthusiasm about life and public that I see in my Liberator. When Dekker sets his mind to depicting Jesus in a fun, creative, and loving manner, that breaks the stoic mold presented by the present church, he succeeds. Jonathan is one of the few bright spots in this series, but then again, he’s also based on the greatest personality in description.

The allegorical elements of Mortal do not completely work for me. This series pretty much focuses on life/spiritual life through Jesus’ blood. But, here are elements that I reckon are supposed to be allegorical, that I simply don’t get or I only partially know. For model, I don’t get the ceremony with the heart at the Gathering. I reckon it has a purpose, but the purpose eludes me. Also, even as I feel that the two makers, Saric and Jonathan is a excellent portrayal of God who gives life and Satan who presents a fake life, I didn’t completely get (or perhaps agree with) some aspects of Saric’s character. I kept thinking everything would eventually click into place and make sense, but unfortunately it…

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