Circle Series 4-in-1
Page 156
Thomas crept to the ledge. Another alley ran directly below, adjoining busy streets on either side. Denver’s brilliant skyline glimmered on the horizon directly ahead. An odd odor met his nose, sweet like cotton candy but mixed with rubber or something burning.
Déjà vu. He’d been here before, hadn’t he? No, of course not. Lights shimmered in the hot summer air, reds and yellows and blues, like jewels sprinkled from heaven. He could swear he’d been . . .
Thomas’s head suddenly snapped to the left. He threw out his arms, but his world spun impossibly and he knew that he was in trouble.
Something had hit him. Something like a sledgehammer. Something like a bullet.
He felt himself topple, but he wasn’t sure if he was really falling or if he was losing consciousness. Something was horribly wrong with his head. He landed hard on his back, in a pillow of black that swallowed his mind whole.
And then . . .
And then Thomas Hunter dreamed, and the world would never be the same.
The Circle Series has sold well over 1 million copies all told.
The average book is read by 5 people. Out of those 5 million
readings a handful of questions rise to the top of reader’s
curiosities. Here are Ted’s responses to those questions.
1) Did you have the entire series in mind when you first began to write Black?
Ted: Yes. Although I originally imagined a series of seven books, not four, tracing the history of redemption through the old and new testaments. Then again that was the ambitious part of me tackling the world. The project I proposed to the publisher involved three books called Black, Red and White. Those first three were written in one year, one right after the other as one long book, then published in one year, dubbed the year of the trilogy, an idea proposed by Allen Arnold, my slave master/publisher at the time. I’ll never forget the phone call. “Ted, I’ve got an idea. Can you write the rest of the series this year?” I said I needed a week to sleep on it since he was, after all, asking the impossible. I called the next day and said yes.
The idea of the alternate ending for Green is a different story. Some will say it brings finality to the series. They are probably right. Unless my slave master calls, that is.
2) You depict evil in the most horrifying ways at times in these novels. Especially in Black and Green. Do you ever worry that you’ve gone too far?
Ted: I don’t think it’s my job to pretend evil is less horrific than it actually is. Casting Teeleh as a yellow fanged monster with a thirst of blood isn’t any more of a stretch than the Orcs for Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. I remember watching Peter Jackson’s vision on screen for the first time thinking, Wow, Focus on the Family is going to scream about these creatures. Not so, they praised the movie. I think it was a game changer that we have Jackson to thank for.
Evil comes among us like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Part of what we do is rip the clothing off. Let others make life look nice and cozy; I will say doing so is a disservice to the human race.
3) Where did your original inspiration for the series come from?
Ted: I was once in a time of meditation and I imagined God as a lake. And I knew immediately that I had to write a novel in which one could dive into God as if he were a physical reality. To do so I had to write a story in which all that we see as spiritual was recast as physical. The colored forest was born. As was the forbidden circle and the lake.
I then took the idea further and imagined retelling all of redemptive history within the context of this world.
4) You have been quoted as saying that you were born to write this series. Do you still feel that way?
Ted: I was born to write tales that retell redemptive history. Books like this series and Showdown, Saint, Sinner, all of the Books of History Chronicles help us relive our rescue and redemption. There is no greater story. I will continue to write similar stories. Immanuel’s Veins is such a story. As is Forbidden, the start of similar trilogy coming out in 2011.
5) The Books of History Chronicles draw links between vampires and the Shataiki from the other world. How long have you been planning this?
Ted: From the beginning the Shataiki were vampires. Not the nice ones written about in some novels, but a version of the Nephilim written about in Genesis. There’s a huge backlash against vampire mythology today—people either love the books or hate them, it seems. Yet the whole notion of a human infected by a beast of another kind has its roots back in the Christian account of creation. It’s part of our own mythology.
6) How are the Paradise Books tied into the Circle Series?
Ted: The Books of History, a centerpiece in Black, Red, White, and Green, find their way into our reality where they have the potential to wreak terrible havoc. And they do, starting with a novel called Showdown, the first of the Paradise novels, named after the town of Paradise, Colorado, that takes center stage in Showdown, Saint, and Sinner.
7) Do you think Alternate Universes could exist?
Ted: Sure. As do most. We don’t know, naturally, but to think it’s impossible is far too narrow an understanding of God and his eternal being. Reading the book of Revelations would lead most to a similar conclusion, if you can pry yourself away from those who simply know the truth based on their own eschatology. What I’ve written may be more similar to reality than many would guess. On the other hand, it probably isn’t.
8) Black is a redo of history. Do you think history will be redone in the far future?
Ted: I’ll answer with a question. Do you believe that humans will retain their humanity in the next life? That is, will they still have a free will? If so, they would still have a choice for evil, yes? Remove that choice and we essentially become like robots in the future.
So if evil exists in the next life, will anyone choose it, the way Lucifer first did? I suppose so. And if so, would the event involve another fall so to speak? We don’t know. Perhaps this allegory I’ve penned is closer to the truth than one might think. Then again, probably not.
Here’s another question, however ridiculous. Is this life we now live a redo? I’ll leave you on that note. J
9) Is it true that the main characters in this series are based on your own children?
Ted: True enough. Those of my ilk would be Thomas naturally, the protagonist who grew up in Southeast Asia, a wanna be karate master, something that I can only do well in my dreams it seems. Rachelle is my eldest daughter, followed by Johannes better known as JT in this life, both featured prominently in Black along with Kara my globe trotter. Finally Chelise the main character in White. Interestingly Chelise came down with a very rare skin disease while I was writing White, an novel in which her character had a skin disease. She’s in permanent remission now, thank God.
10) Any more novels in this series?
Ted: Never say never. But yes, for now, never. I’ll tell you what, I will give you another series that captures my full imagination. If you take that ride with me, you’ll find it as compelling, I think. Keep your eyes open.
Having said that, The Lost Books (my young adult series) is a spin off of the Circle Series involving 4 teens in the world of Thomas Hunter. Much is added from their perspective.
There is also passing link to Green in Immanuel’s Veins, but only in that the Russians in Immanuel’s Veins have ancient Shataiki blood in them and are creatures of the night who have descended from the first and only Shataiki to cross over up to that point, Alucard. Alucard has mated with humans and spawned Nephilim a kind of vampire before the day of vampires. They are masterfully seductive as such and give Toma, our hero vying for the same heroine, a run for his money. I long foresaw and can now easily see a series coming out of Immanuel’s Veins, the story of our ongoing seduction. If the Circle Series has interested you, you must read Immanuel’s Veins. You absolutely must.
“Immanuel’s Veins is a heart-wrenching journey of redemption and hope that left me sobbing, laughing and clinging to every word.”
�
� Donna McChristian, 44,
Environmental Chemist
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Ted Dekker is the New York Times bestselling author of more than 25 novels. He is known for stories that combine adrenaline-laced plots with incredible confrontations between good and evil. He lives in Texas with his wife and children.