Tersias the Oracle

Saturday, September 14, 2013
“The gods will speak to you today and all for the price of a shilling,” Malachi looked intently at the gathering, “I will give you one free consultation to prove to you all that what I say is the truth and that Tersias of London is the first true oracle this town has seen since the days of Saint Tara.”

Book: Tersias the Oracle by G.P. Taylor, Penguin Group, 2005


Genre: Suspense/Supernatural
Target Audience: Boys 16+
Subjects: Fortune Telling, Crime, Power, Supernatural beings, Showing love to others
Summary: First there was the comet that rained down destruction from the skies. Terias had foretold this to his master. Now his master has decided to use him as a fortune-telling machine. He’ll charge the crowds money and Terias will answer any question they ask. That plan is interrupted when he catches the eye of a powerful ruler, a group of young criminals, and another man who is into the supernatural – all of whom desire Terias for themselves. None have pure motives. All have some form of power or skill. The fate of this young boy lies in all their hands. Who will prove the most powerful? Who will possess this oracle child for themselves?
Notes: A suspense story, this story just goes from bad to worse for Terias. He’s a pawn in the hands of evil men. There is no mention of God or the Bible in this story. There is mention of demons – it’s made clear that the way Terias reveals the future is through an evil spirit that is growing in power and will do away with Terias as soon as it becomes powerful enough. There are a couple of hints that there might be another power out there that is good, but nothing is revealed about it. (SPOILER ALERT) At the end, after they’ve killed two characters, the person who seems to maybe follow the good power helps them bring the two dead people back to life so it seems that the good power triumphs in the end, but it’s still just a vague, unknown, distant power, not a loving Creator who gave His life for His creation. And there is definitely no source of ultimate authority. Right and wrong are relative in this story. One character might be good because they are a little less violent than the last one.  One character is not good, not because his actions are wrong so much as because he’s not that good at his crimes yet. I would not recommend this story. 
Spiritual Content Recommendation Scale: 1/5
Reviewer: J:-)mi

Romans 8:31– What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?

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