Green: The Circle Reborn



Green is a novel written by Ted Dekker and is Book Zero of the Circle Series]] of Black, Red, and White.

Plot
The beginning of the book starts ten years after White, where, once again, Thomas' Circle is threatened not by the diseased Scabs inhabiting the green forests, but from the inside. Thomas' son, Samuel, born of his first wife Rachelle, is trying to turn the Circle back to their war-making ways and lead them in a fight against the Horde and forsake Elyon's words to not fight, denying He even exists. When Thomas and others stand against his attempts to change them at one of their Gatherings close to the forests, he challenges Vadal, who is betrothed to Thomas' daughter, Marie, in a fight to the death. He accepts, but Marie forces him down by offering herself as the fighter. They fight will Thomas stands idly by, his reality unwinding with the thoughts that Elyon had forsaken them.

The book shifts to the past, to our reality, where a man named Billy, who can read minds with eye connections by writing in the Books of History years ago, is entering a Raison Pharmaceutical laboratory. He has an audience with Kara Hunter, Thomas' sister, and Monique De Raison, the newest operator of Raison Corporations. He slyly talks to them—they wore glasses so he cannot connect eyes—and tries to get the sample of Thomas' blood. They do not tell him much, but allow him to stay at the mansion as a guest until they can figure out what to do with him. Billy immediately places Monique's mid-twenties daughter, Janae, as a target for questioning. Kara and Monique then tell Janea that there was a blood sample, but it was destroyed when an Indonesian lab was destroyed, where it was sent for safekeeping.

Back in Other Earth, the fight between Marie and Samuel is ended by Thomas, who decides that to conduct his own challenge. He challenges Qurong and the power of Teleeh with the power of Elyon. They travel to Ba'al Bek, a crater of unknown origin outside the forest Qurongi. Thomas, accompanied by Jamous, Mikil, and Samuel find themselves facing Qurong, the leader of the church, Ba'al, and a group of over 200 priests and forty soldiers. Thomas lets Ba'al choose the challenge against Teeleh. Ba'al forces Samuel to be used a sacrifice to Teeleh and that Elyon may save him if he wishes. Two-hundred priests sacrifice themselves by blood-loss after cutting their wrists to bleed on the tied-down Samuel. Shaitaki fly overhead. Ba'al starts to do it himself when he is possessed by Marsuuv, Teeleh's queen. Marsuuv lets the Shaitaki feed, but they are stopped by a green mist lowered from the heavens, reminiscent to the green waters of Black. Samuel, dead by Marsuuv's sword, is brought back to life and they escape, leaving Qurong's forces in pursuit and the leader himself with words of his daughter still loving him (her father).

While this is happening, Marie and Chelise are heading to save Thomas from Ba'al. They arrive when the challenge is finished and only the dead are left. Chelise, believing Thomas captured, decides to enter the forests and beg his release from Qurong. She sends Marie back to the Circle. Thomas and the others, though, have left the pursuit behind and stop to decide their next move. An argument between Thomas and Samuel comes in and Samuel leaves them to join the Eramites, a group of half-breeds, the forest people who became scabs and treated like lowers in a caste system, who fled the forests and went deep into the desert.

On Earth, Janae and Billy decide to inject themselves with an evolution of the Raison Strain, Raison Strain B, which is not airborne, but only takes a day to kill instead of thirty, and a strong bit of knockout pills. They do so under the belief that Monique and Kara will save them with the vial of Thomas' blood (they also believe that it was not destroyed), which will send them to Other Earth. At first the two women decide not to save them, in fear that they may bring back information that could cause a global disaster, like Thomas did, or they may find the Books of History and change something drastically. But, a few hours later, they decide to call in the blood, which still exists, and try to save them—Janae, at least.

Billy and Janae are injected with the blood and wake up as Ba'al and his lover, Jezreal respectively. Jezreal refers to Ba'al/Billy as Billos, meaning he was one of the Chosen in the Lost Book series, who's life was sold to Teeleh in Renegade. They don't get very far into their dreams before they are woken up.

Thomas and Qurong travel to Earth with the books, though Qurong believes that Thomas is using magic to put visions in his head. Thomas wakes up the dreaming Billy and Janae, with Kara and Monique watching. Qurong, Billy, and Janae all turn against Thomas, but he is too fast and locks them in the room together with no escape. Janae looks at Qurong's skin under a microscope and finds that the disease is caused by millions of Shataiki larvae on their skin, eating them. Qurong breaks the door, Janae steals the vial of Thomas' blood and a vial of the Raison Strain B, which, she believes, will make the worms on infected skin act violently, but not those who have touched Thomas' blood—those who had drowned, or the half-breeds who used to bathe. They steal the Books of History and all three escape back to Other Earth, leaving Thomas.

Janae and Billy arrive back in Ba'al's Thrall and are captured. They break free of Ba'al's prison and pursue him to the Black Forest where one of Teeleh's twelve queens, Marsuuv, is waiting. They make it and they are accepted as lovers. Janae is given the task of seducing Samuel and helping end all humanity.

Samuel and Eram are taken by Janae's words and accept her help. They and Eram's forces join the Circle and, with Janae showing the effects of the Raison Strain B—which she calls Teeleh's Breath—about 5000 Circle members join in to help fight a battle against Qurong and his forces. They leave just a few hours later to strike, after Janae beats Chelise in a challenge. Chelise wakes and journeys to find her father and try to have him drown once more.

Billy meets Teeleh with Marsuuv, who accepts and gives him an objective. He takes his eyes and uses them to create a clone. He names the original Bill and the clone Billy. Billy is tasked with returning to Earth in the current time and be the anti-christ. Bill is tasked to travel to right before Thomas first dreamed and kill him—that is, in the beginning of Black. They both travel with the books and arrive at different times, where they need to be. Billy is the one left holding the books, and phases into the very room where Thomas is. Billy leaves with confused talk. Thomas and Kara take the books back to Other Earth.

Chelise finds Qurong just after he decapitates Ba'al. The Shaitaki inferno above, now seen to all, has plummeted, devouring anybody, now that the Circle has broken, and Elyon's vow broken as well. She cries for him to drown for her, but he refuses again. Samuel, now infected with the disease and almost fully Horde after breaking Elyon's vow, decapitates her without realizing it was his half-mother. Qurong then kills Samuel.

Thomas is met by the boy Elyon, who quickly shows him the battlefield, where the Horde are being dreadfully slaughtered with Teeleh's Breath affecting them, making it hard for them to move their joints. Elyon and Thomas jump through a lake and pop outside the Circle camp, where some 7000 still remain, including Mikil, Jamous, and Johan. They all travel, following the Warrior Elyon to the battlefield. Elyon creates a new lake, red with a green center, in the battlefield while Roush hold back the Shataiki. All but Thomas dive, who is looking for Chelise and Samuel. He finds Qurong and asks where Chelise is, and he shows him Chelise's clothing, with no body. He asks for Samuel and is shown the Horde body that still exists. Thomas realizes that Samuel was not saved by Elyon (as was Chelise) and cries out for mercy. He disappears. Qurong, stricken, finally drowns, crying out for Elyon.

Thomas is with Elyon. He is given a second chance on the terms that he will not know it and is placed at any place/time that Elyon chooses, and without knowledge of anything that happens after that. Thomas accepts and finds himself in a shower. Kara is just leaving their apartment. Thomas goes to work, leaves after closing, and the start of Black is repeated, ending with him getting shot in the side of the head by Billy, who then follows him into his dream. The final words say that Thomas dreamed and nothing would be the same, creating a Circle. The story continues in Black.

Criticism
Many Dekker fans have complained that Green should not be read first, and that beginners should by all means start with Black. Many have also been dissatisfied with the ending, while others love it.