Forbidden (The Books of Mortals #1) - Ted Dekker & Tosca Lee

Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I didn't know Ted Dekker wrote this book.  Would I have read it?  Probably not.  It's a world of fantasy that I'm usually not a big fan of.  I know what to expect when I pick up a Ted Dekker.  I'm going to get a deep, thought-inspiring book that makes me rethink aspects of my life.  He's just that good.  There's a short story that goes along with this book, The Keeper, which I recommend reading if you are thinking about trying out this book.

This is a new series, The Book of Mortals, that starts us out 480 years after the release of the virus named Legion.  The virus was genetically coded to attack and eliminate all emotions except for fear.  Everyone follows the Order, which has created a world of peace. 

Rom is a young man who approached by an old man.  Naming Rom's father to get his attention, the old man gives him a vial of blood and a piece of vellum.  The old man is then murdered and Rom flees.  Putting everyone who knows him in danger, he is pusued by a man named Saric, who has tasted power and wants more.  He has only tasted the baser emotions, as he is being used as a pawn by the Alchemists.

Saric wants to control the world.  His sister, Feyn, is shortly to take the throne, but Saric murders his father and takes control for only a few days until the time she is scheduled to take over.  In that time, he pretends to care about his sister and his father but changes the law so that if the current leader dies before the time the next is to take power, the one who ruled before is to take over rule, thereby setting himself up to rule after he murders his sister when she takes power.

There is one hope.  The blood Rom has been given brings back emotion, not permanently, but for a time.  Rom and his friends get overwhelmed by emotions and realize that feeling only fear has made them dead.  There is a legend of a boy who can take power and thwart Saric's plan.  He also has emotions without the blood.  He is the hope for the world.  It's now up to Rom and his friends to prevent a tyrant from taking the throne.

I devoured this book.  I think I got eye strain from reading so much over Christmas, but I knew with Ted Dekker that this would happen.  I don't know how people can write short reviews for his novels.  There aren't a few sentences that can summarize his stories.  They're too complex.  I know that I have failed to make the story sound as interesting and intense as it is, but I did feel that this series reminded me of The Circle Series.  Not due to the story line itself, just that I am going to have to read this series all the way through.  The next book is due out in June 2012.  I'll be waiting!  Great Book!