The Calling by Rachelle Dekker

The Calling by Rachelle Dekker is the sequel to my favorite book from 2015, The Chosen. In The Chosen, we are introduced to a community that has survived a world wide population near extinction event. There is a group of people that have gathered in a small area that have created a set of rules to help them survive this near extinction event. The majority of those rules revolve around marriage and obedience to the higher powers. In this novel, the story is about a group of renegades who have decided to see what life and marriage can be like outside of those walls. The main character is Remko, who we meet in the first novel and has married Carrington. The two have become integral parts of the rebel group, the seers. Remko because of his guard experience has fallen into the role of protector of this misfit group. He often struggles with the reality that he cannot keep his group safe and eventually has to come to terms with either trusting God or holding on to that fear.

One of the major themes that I really enjoyed about this book was that the root of evil and discord is free will. There is a movement that is trying to rid all people of free will so that they can be happy and content. In addition to this concept making a human a god, it negates the good parts of free will. Without free will, there would be no love or kindness. We would just be puppets in someone's grand play. That is not how we were created. Our steps have not been predetermined, even though they have all been witnessed and God sees where they will lead us, each step is a choice we need to make. Anything less, would not be a choice of following and loving God, it would be an automated response.

I enjoyed The Calling and I'm looking forward to the next in the series. The book was provided to me by Tyndale House Publishers for the purpose of review. My opinions are my own.

And for some fun, in case you are not familiar with Rachelle Dekker, who is the daughter of the author, Ted Dekker, here is a cute Christmas video they released last year as well as a link to some questions and answers from her about the book.

Rachelle Dekker The Calling Question and Answer

"A Dekker Christmas" with Ted Dekker. From our family to yours, Merry Christmas!
Posted by Rachelle Dekker on Monday, December 14, 2015

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