Elyon (The Lost Books #6) – Ted Dekker and Kaci Hill

New York Times best-selling author Ted Dekker revisits the universe of his half-million selling Circle Trilogy with the continuation of this popular YA series--and brings along a member of "The Circle" as his coauthor.

Darsalis trying to love the Horde as Elyon asked her to, but she's torn between this new mission and her original one . . . especially now that Johnis and Silvie no longer seem to be on her side.

The Chosen Ones are facing their greatest threat--extinction--and only by Elyon's grace will they survive to tell the tale.

The plot thickens as the twisted alliances between Johnis, Shaeda, the Shataiki, and Sucrow (the latest Horde high priest) begin to unravel and reform. Each one is out for their own personal gain and will gladly stab the others in the back to ensure success. Shaeda’s story is fleshed out in greater detail, as is Darsal’s storyline with Marak. In a way, the Darsal/Marak plotline serves as the inverse of the Thomas/Chelise storyline in White. Instead of the Horde woman living among the Circle, one from the Circle would live among the Horde. In both instances, the purpose is the same—to show the humanity of the Horde and their need for the drowning—which symbolizes to followers of Christ the world’s need for redemption. It’s a storyline we’ve heard over and over, which is fine, but Dekker is literally retelling it the same exact way and there’s no tension or surprise.

The rest of the storylines, though, aren’t predictable at all. And not always in a good way. Let me try to explain. Elyon reveals that Shaeda is using Johnis to try to get to a Shataiki amulet, which, after a ceremony performed by a priest of Teeleh, will allow the wearer temporary control over the Shataiki army. For a world that began as an allegorical retelling of redemptive history, we’ve certainly strayed far. What is the background of this amulet? Why was it created? How does it work? Is it symbolic of anything? We never get to know. Just accept the story and don’t ask questions.

Sucrow wants this power to kill the Circle; Johnis desires this power to destroy the Horde; and Shaeda covets such for her own purposes, namely the overthrow of Teeleh. Betrayal, trickery, and sorcery abound—and the fate of the world again depends on the three remaining Chosen.

Like Lunatic, Elyon draws out more of the Dekker mythos, giving just a bit more information on the Leedhan. Kaci Hill again characterizes Shaeda to perfection, shrouding the character in mystery and seductive evil. It’s really a shame that the character isn’t developed any further or given any more of a story—or, like, even corporeal form.

The conclusion is a bit abrupt. Listening to the audiobook, I was surprised when the book ended. I thought surely it had skipped some chapters, but nope. Things get magically sewn up at the end all nice and near with a gigantic gap open to continue the storyline (that never happens, by the way). Instead of tying things up in the mythos, it only leads to more questions which are either never resolved or get retconned. The storyline just feels unfinished.

From Kaci Hill’s perspective, Lunatic and Elyon are killer debut novels. It’s not every day one gets to pen a debut novel with a NYT bestselling author. When Ted asks you to write a book with him, you don’t say no even if the result isn’t top-tier Dekker. I genuinely think it was published at a time period where Ted was just trying too much, too fast.

Nonetheless, it’s a fun series that’s sure to bring smiles to fans of Dekker’s fantasy works and a great way to introduce younger readers to the world of the Circle. They just don’t stand to the same level as their source material.

Elyon (The Lost Books #6) by Ted Dekker

5.5

Main Characters

5.0/10

Secondary Characters

5.0/10

Plot

4.0/10

Theme

5.0/10

Atmosphere

5.0/10

Pacing

6.0/10

Writing Quality

5.0/10

Passion

7.0/10

Engagment

5.0/10

Goodreads Opinion

7.9/10