Infidel Review

The Lost Books of History II: Infidel




After reading Choosen I had high expectations for Infidel. In my opinion though, this book is solely for the purpose of leading to Renegade, the next book, which we must wait for until April. The reality though is that this book has a lot of the same ideas found in White, my least favorite of the Circle series. Even more though, the characters become less believable.

One of the coolest plots within this book are the Books of History, which in fact are what the Choosen were called to find. There is something about these books and blood that show a person power and terror unimaginable. But, in Infidel, we do not see everyones visions when there blood touches the book. Because of this, the reader is uncertain why Billos is so interested in obtaining the books.

We are also unsure as to the nature of the desperation found within Johnis. Although his mother is alive, and any man wants to save his mother from the depths of hell. In any case, most men, 16, 17, or 56 are going to try to do so with success in mind. Johnis, on the other hand, leads a whole batallion into a trap without even realizing. The reader does have an indication that it is a trap before hand thanks to a traitor of the Guard. This though in and of itself does not go agaisnt the blind decision making Johnis is making. In the first book they develop him as being a leader who ought to be followed. In this book he becomes a failure that can not be trusted. The dichotomy was very hard to follow and ever harder to embrace.

This book is still a bit dark, having a Horde member threaten to kill his own daughter. This invokes compassion for the Horde, and in doing so Dekker creates a parallel between our world and his own. That parallel is very much found in the fact that Christians in our day and age may often see the sin of this world as dispicable. In the books the Guard sees the Horde as such, and vice versa. Yet, when Johnis embraces the Horde as people, he has compassion. The disease of the Horde is everyones desease, books or our world included. We all have a tendancy towards Evil(rape, murder, and other massives forms of selfishness), but it begins without a sort of renewal each and every day. So as our renewal is ignored, our temptations become greater.

Even so, there wasnt a lot of uniqueness in this book. It is good and worth the read, but you find yourself holding on to an unbelievable ride that has a plot line that seems easy, giving those in trouble alternate ways of getting out of trouble. The Horde may have dulled minds, but there ability to let the smartest of the Forest Guard go in impossible situations is uncanny, too conveniant, and ultimately frustrating.

Yet, Billos places his all too bloody body onto a book of history at the end at the three Choosen see him completely disapear. Where he shows up, we will not know until April. But I have a feeling that it won't be Paradise.