My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I found the first half of the book somewhat boring. At the midpoint, Dekker reveals what’s going on, and why so many strange things are happening. Once that was revealed, the story became compelling. Until then, it was just … strange. And not especially enjoyable.

The opening hook, a conversation with Marquavius Black, poses questions that take so long to be answered in the book that I had trouble remembering what they were.

I did enjoy the second half, and I appreciate the allegorical aspects. But I thought the ending was not especially imaginative. The way all the problems were resolved seemed too simplistic to me.

One doctrinal criticism. There is a statement along the lines that the people influencing others, like God, cannot force people against their will. One may debate the question of WHETHER God ever forces people against their will, but to say his is incapable of it goes too far. It might have been good to include some discussion of how wills are changed through influence, rather than a stark statement of “forcing” being impossible.

And a comment on the audio narrator–he does a good job overall. But there are a few errors, where the narrator made a mistake and repeated the line without deleting the first attempt.