The Fall

by Ted Dekker, H.R. Hutzel

Charlie is just an ordinary boy attending a special school in Montana where he feels like an outsider. He is hated by some and ignored by most.

That all changes on a vacation to the Caribbean when the plane the students are flying on crashes on an island and vanishes without a trace. Cut off from the world and desperate to survive, the students must find a way to work together despite never ending conflict.

But this is no ordinary island. It changes without warning. And it has a portal to another world called Lumina. So begins Charlies heroic journey on which he will have to discover the truth of who he really is, if any of the students hope to survive.

Enter a wild adventure full of light and hope for ages 9 - 16.

Genres: Fiction, Fantasy, Christian

Paperback

Published January 1, 2023

About the author

Ted Dekker is known for novels that combine adrenaline-laced stories with unexpected plot twists, unforgettable characters, and incredible confrontations between good and evil. Ted lives in Austin with his wife LeeAnn and their four children.

Reviews

[Allie Andersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting but promising first book in the series. The world-building is a bit too on-the-nose for me, and in my opinion a tad too violent (kids literally having murderous intentions on each other 😜) for MG, but overall intriguing.

[J.D. Sutter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow start. This a portal fantasy that was touted to be in the vein of The Chronicles of Narnia, but I fear that comparison is not apt. It takes us half the book, about 100 pages, before we ever get to the other world. Once there, things do get a bit more interesting. The allegories in the fantasy world are very on-the-nose, but I suppose that might be because it is written for young readers, though the same was the case for Narnia and there is much more subtlety and symbolism to be found there.

I did not find this world to be nearly as engaging as some of the others in the Dekker universe. Speaking of which, there are a couple of references to other Dekker worlds/books, which I did enjoy. It should also be mentioned that there is absolutely no resolution at the end of this first book.

Overall, not a very strong start to the series, but I shall continue.

Fave line: "...the truth is that light can only be hidden, never destroyed."

[casserole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ted Dekker… needs to stop before I die. Literally. How does he make books like this? Like, HOW? I love this series to the INFINITY and BACK AND AGAIN.
If you think I’m just being a fangirl (even tho I am :3) just read this series… 😁😁😁

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read with Kaleb - we both liked it!

[Erik Koster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael and Tyler have got to be the most gigantic caricatures of the “evil teenager bully antagonist” trope that I have ever read. My goodness someone needs to kick them in the nethers. Other than that, excellent chapter book, definitely kept me turning pages. Full of adventure and cool characters (other than the aforementioned ridiculousness), and it’s clean so I’m looking forward to what my sons think about it. On to the next in the series :)

[Hannah Mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a minute to get into and I don’t know if that was a fault of mine or the book. It felt a little like breaking the 4th wall when they said the story reminded them of Lost. I am much more intrigued by the world they go to than the world they start in. Looking forward to seeing what happens next.

[Jan Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wonder if Ted Decker or one of his family members was bullied. His children’s book seems to address this often. This is book one of three it would be interesting to get The point of view of a child who is read this book. Ted Dekker also enjoys parallel worlds.

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can see what he was trying