Rise of the Mystics ~ Review

Rise of the Mystics
Beyond the Circle #2
By Ted Dekker

First off this is a totally WOW book. And you absolutely have to read book 1 The 49th Mystic first, if you don't you will be more lost than Rachelle Matthews when she first awoke in the desert of Other Earth (from book 1).

Everything that Rachelle thought that she had known was wrong or so the DARPA professionals working to help her would have her believe. Vlad Smith, nope just an implanted memory. The sky projection that she brought down with her mind, never happened that was all DARPA. And her dreams that take her to Other Earth just a manifestation of her schizophrenia for which they are treating her.

Rachelle is a threat to both worlds as she is to usher in change through her actions if she can succeed in her mission of finding the Five Seals. Finding the first three seals allowed her to save Eden, but leaving Eden has placed under the manipulative control of DARPA. And in Other Earth, she is being held in an Elyonite prison. Worse the Horde know that both she and Jacob are prisoners of the Elyonite and they want them back.

Rachelle is the 49th Mystic but her life in Other Earth has been stripped of its early memories thanks to the poison she received while imprisoned by the Horde. The Horde is not alone in their desire to stop her. The Elyonites too wish to stop her heretical beliefs and destroy the Mystics and their Realm in the process. Needing to re-learn, to re-member, what she once knew Rachelle is in a race against time and her own fears. But fear is a powerful foe, one that must be conquered before her time runs out.

I liked that Thomas Hunter, known in Other Earth as Thomas of Hunter, is in this book. He is not alone as the Circle - many that one knew from The Circle series are integral to the story. And then there is Justin. After reading this series you'll want to reread The Circle if it has been a while since you last read them. It is easy to return to this world - it is like visiting a favorite childhood haunt and having the time away vanish. Ted Dekker has created another superb chapter in this world and one that should not be missed.


About the Book:
Some say the great mystery of how one can live in two worlds at once died with Thomas Hunter many years ago. Still others that the gateway to that greater reality was and is only the stuff of dreams. They are all wrong. 

Rachelle Matthews, who grew up in the small town of Eden, Utah, discovered just how wrong when she dreamed and awoke in another world. There she learned that she was the 49th Mystic, the prophesied one, tasked with finding five ancient seals before powerful enemies destroy her. If Rachelle succeeds in her quest, peace will reign. If she fails, the world will forever be locked in darkness.

In The 49th Mystic, Rachelle found the first three of those five seals through great peril and mind-altering adventure. But two seals remain hidden and the fate of both worlds hangs in their balance.

As Rachelle Matthews sits deep in a dungeon, Vlad Smith is just getting started. Thomas Hunter's world is about to be turned inside out. The mystics say that there is no defense against the Fifth Seal--but finding it will cost Rachelle everything.

So begins the final volume of high stakes in one girl's quest to find an ancient path that will save humanity. The clock is ticking; the end rushes forward. 

Ready? Set?

Dream.