Mortal

Mortal is the second book in the Book of Mortals trilogy. In truth, I've been looking forward to this book since the first book, Forbidden, came out last year. Forbidden is one of my favorites by Ted Dekker, giving me high expectations for Mortal. That can be dangerous when expectations aren't meant for one reason or another. I allowed things I had heard and read to impact my reading of this book, and I'm sorry for that. Instead of allowing myself to just enjoy the story, I found myself predicting where the story was going.

That being said, I read Dekker books more for the concepts they illustrate than for the stories themselves. Dekker definitely has a ‘flavor' of his own. In Mortal, I found myself wondering if Dekker and Lee were going for an allegory. The story does illustrate the Christian Gospel, but I will let the reader find that rather than delving into spoilers. The book leaves the story unfinished, so we will have to wait until next year for Sovereign to complete the picture and Dekker and Lee's concepts. As has happened with other Dekker books, I found myself feeling a little uncomfortable with the story at times and wondering if Dekker isn't trying too hard to be different, epic, and shocking. But, overall the story comes together leaving these uncomfortable moments as minor complaints. Perhaps I will see how these parts fit in better on a second reading.

I have a complaint about this book I usually don't have with Dekker books. The editing of this first edition is sloppy. There are a number of instances where words are mixed up or apparently mistakenly let out. With a little thinking and rereading, the sentences are fairly easy to figure out, but doing so does disrupt the flow of the story, one of Dekker's strengths as a writer. I'm sure this will be addressed in later editions.

I rated Mortal as a four rather than the five I gave Forbidden. Mortal simply did not captivate me like Forbidden did. That being said, I really liked the way the book ends setting up Sovereign. Perhaps seeing the book in context of the whole story and a reading without over thinking it will change my perspective.