Genre: Futuristic/Dystopian/Suspense

Series: A Seer Novel, Book 2

Recommended.

The dystopian setting of the Authority City continues in this sequel to The Choosing with an increasingly dangerous regiment of experimental vaccinations to control the people, and a plan to find and exterminate the rebel camp of the Seers, lead by Remko Brant. Against high stakes and multiple disappointments, Remko struggles to work through his anger and fear in order to realize his identity, and discover his calling.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, and was glad to resume the story with this one, which I found better than the first. It reads as popular teen fiction, with relatable characters, a good amount of suspense, and lots of action in the second half (the beginning was interesting enough to keep me reading, but slower paced). The end was particularly good, and left me wanting to read the final book of the series!

I especially liked the juxtaposition of the corrupt society’s initiatives to control and manipulate the people, compared with the spiritual teaching of the rebels to surrender to God by finding their identity in Him. The spiritual metaphor, on this note, is very positive, although theologically it is a bit shallow. I had a small issue with this in the first book as well, in that the story presents a partial truth in its portrayal of salvation–presenting salvation as something that one simply realizes as one’s identity, rather than the biblical process of dying to oneself through repentance, in order to be exalted as a new creation through Christ (a transformation into salvation, rather than an epiphany that no transformation is needed because one has already been made perfect). This is an important difference to me, and one I would emphasize to my kids before letting them read this. But from a story perspective, it is very good. And the process of surrendering one’s fears is also strongly presented.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers.