Also by this author: The Promise, The Drummer Boy, Sinner, Green, The Dream Traveler's Quest, Into the Book of Light, The Curse of Shadownman, The Garden and the Serpent, The Final Judgment, Millie Maven and the Bronze Medallion, Nine, Millie Maven and the Golden Vial, Millie Maven and the White Sword, Millie Maven, And They Found Dragons
Series: And They Found Dragons #3
Published by Scripturo on November 9, 2021
Genres: Children's
Goodreads
It is said a child will lead them. But lead them where?
Jack is just 12, born on an Ark orbiting Earth among 169 survivors of a global apocalypse who eagerly await the planet's restoration so they can return to the surface. With supplies dangerously low, the time for waiting is over. Humanity must return now or die among the stars.
Unfortunately there is a problem. A big one. Dragons have inexplicably risen from Earth's ashes. Worse, they emit a global toxin deadly to all over the age of puberty. After much debate, the Ark's leaders realize that humanity's only hope is to send teams of specially trained children to hunt and eliminate the dragon queen.
But Jack is frail and deemed unworthy for the dangerous mission.
So begins a tale leads readers, young and old alike, on a journey with Jack, the child who will lead them all in the most unlikely of ways. A journey to an Earth they could not have imagined. An Earth where humanity's fear takes physical form as dragons that can only be defeated through a love that casts out all fear.
The final book of And They Found Dragons begins with the future of humanity teetering on the brink. All earth-bound humanity is under the subjugation of the Reds, a race of dragons that were literally formed by human fear. Jack Solomon was sent with a team from the space station to kill the dragons, not knowing what they were or why they had taken over earth. He’s since discovered that they cannot be physically killed, but he has been given a plan—one that will require sacrifice.
The Dekkers portray a post-apocalyptic world that’s not unlike the rather-apocalyptic world we live in today. Consumed by fear. Driven by lust and power. Slaves to our dragons. It’s evocative imagery that provokes important questions. What are our dragons? What fears do we live in that consume us? How can we live free of fear and completely in the light? This imagery is something the Dekkers have long been developing. I could point to any number of previous books—Ted Dekker’s non-fiction The Way of Love among them—that ask these questions and contemplate answers. It can be a bit heady for the age range the Dekkers are seeking with these books, but Ted and Rachelle have faith that kids are smart and up to the challenge. That they, in their childlikeness, will understand the message more clearly than adults who have spent years in darkness. That’s the premise of the book after all.
Rise of the Light Bringer ends—spoilers—with humanity struggling to rebuild. The question I have is whether we, right now, are in that phase or if we’re in the phase from book one, still struggling to understand. The world has been destroyed by fear. Fear of disease. Fear of government. Fear of financial instability. Fear of control. It’s been destroyed by well-founded fears and ridiculous fears. Fear has caused humans to act in ways that are judgmental, harmful, destructive, and unloving. The Dekkers are taking their appeal to the next generation: Slay the dragons of adult creation and be lovers of the light, in whom there is no fear.