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The Seven Sleepers #8
Attack of the Amazons
How would the Sleepers rescue this beautiful woman, helpless against her foes, tied to a tree and facing certain death? After a successful ambush, the Seven Sleepers find that she is anything but helpless. She's Princess Merle, the fierce daughter of Fedor. God has sent the Seven Sleepers on another mission, this time deep into the jungle in search of the Tribe of Fedor. And are they in for a surprise! Enter this topsy-turvy world where the women are savage warriors and the men are little more than slaves. Meet a witch doctor who claims the dark god demands the Sleepers as a sacrifice, and a bushy-headed historian who holds the secrets of the past. Experience the thrill of battle as the Seven Sleepers join in the conflict, seeking to bring peace and lead these women warriors into the house of God.
165 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1996
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About the author
Gilbert L. Morris
25 books24 followersalso publishes under the name Gilbert Morris
Gilbert Morris is one of today's best-known Christian novelists. He lives in Gulf Shores, Alabama, with his wife, Johnnie. He is the father to Lynn Morris and Alan Morris
Gilbert Morris is one of today's best-known Christian novelists. He lives in Gulf Shores, Alabama, with his wife, Johnnie. He is the father to Lynn Morris and Alan Morris
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 7, 2024
Attack of the Amazons is one of those books that rubbed me the wrong way even as a kid — not because I disagree with everything Gilbert Morris is saying, but because he has zero subtlety and manages to be offensive on so many levels even when teaching a pretty good lesson. I hope no one actually reads my reviews of these books, because I take it way too seriously considering this is a book probably 30 people on earth have read and no one actually cares about the complexities of the gender roles presented here — imagine the setting of Tarzan with the aspirations of Planet of the Apes but the execution of Barbie (2023).
As spiritual leader Goél begins gathering his followers for an ultimate battle against the Dark Lord Necros, the Seven Sleepers are sent on a mission to the fierce Fedor tribe deep in the savage jungles. There, they are taken captive and enslaved in a strange society where women are savage warriors and the men are little more than slaves, and all are ruled by the whims of an evil god named Maug and his witchdoctor priestess. As the Sleepers work to free themselves from the cruelty of the Fedor women and bring Goél’s message of love and harmony, they also find themselves pulled into a dangerous tiger hunt, a slowly-growing rebellion, and a battle with yet another ferocious jungle tribe.
Attack of the Amazons is going to take me awhile to unpack, so I’ll start with some simple observations on the plot, characters, and themes. Morris paces his plotline better in this book than in some before, and after a slower start in which the Sleepers trek endlessly through the jungle, their arrival in the Fedor village sparks a quick-moving story that never gets dull. Morris also begins with the best balance between the Seven Sleepers so far; each one gets a little moment to shine and some sort of mini-story before their arrival in the Fedor tribe’s village, though this balance is immediately abandoned in favor of a jumpy, multi-protagonist perspective. Jake Garfield is finally getting a little characterization, but of course he is not only sidelined but completely disregarded for the rest of the book. Josh Adams and Sarah Collingwood continue to have the exact same conversation they’ve had since The Gates of Neptune, though I guess we’ve improved a little because now they kiss at the end of every book.
A new element to Attack of the Amazons (and to The Seven Sleepers series as a whole) is the relationship between Dave Cooper and Abbey Roberts, who up until now have shown no serious feelings for each other. Dave (who hasn’t had a lick of personality since The Caves That Time Forgot) has been mustering all his strength for a lavish display of misogyny and chauvinism, and Abbey has lost some of the maturity she gained in Empress of the Underworld in favor of fighting with Dave constantly for no reason. Abbey wishes for a chance to boss Dave around for once, and Dave belittles, insults, and harassess her incessantly because I guess there has to be some conflict between the Sleepers. Unfortunately, they don’t get the relationship development that Josh and Sarah got,
We do, however, finally get a little update on the brewing conflict between Goél and Necros, though of course the latter doesn’t appear in Attack of the Amazons at all, because why would we include our primary antagonist in more than one scene every few books? It’s nice to see Goél as a battle commander and the commissioner of the Sleepers’ next quest — something that, amazingly, has been lacking since The Caves That Time Forgot. The lessons taught in Attack of the Amazons are fleeting and minimal, mostly limited to “it’s good to have courage!” and “changing a society is hard!” and my personal favorite “no woman wants a sword when she can have a husband and kids instead!” I’ll get into Morris’ agenda in this book in my next few paragraphs, but it really does feel like the Christ-centric, allegorical messages for kids are being replaced by Morris’ personal ideologies about social relationships.
As always, Morris’ inconsistent, illogical worldbuilding drives me insane. The Fedor tribe’s historian Zuriel relates the history of the tribe dating back many generations… despite the fact that exactly fifty-two years have passed since the apocalypse. The Fedor women have managed to “evolve” to be larger and stronger than the men of the tribe, again, in just fifty-two years. Morris has abandoned his Christian-persecution metaphor and his odd Mark-of-the-Beast-style plot point from Flight of the Eagles that keeps anyone from buying or selling. We still have basically no information about who Goél is (other than an implied symbol of Christ), nor of how his kingdom works, nor of any kind of meaningful evangelical Christian parallel. Jake, who was first characterized as an inventor in Winged Raiders of the Desert, somehow builds a functioning handheld alarm despite the fact that Nuworld is devoid of any kind of technology. The Fedor women are very white, though the less-intelligent, more-primitive tribes surrounding them are brown-skinned (I’m just not even going to go there).
A few other notes before I begin my literary analysis. It’s interesting to see Ryland and Dawn Daybright from Voyage of the Dolphin again, even if their stereotypical dialogue about married life is trite and painful. For the third time, Morris includes a headstrong, redheaded female character who has to be taught a lesson; it’s almost like this is a personal vendetta with him. As usual, Morris defines many of his female characters based on how attractive they are, which is especially unfortunate with characters like Merle and Tanisha. I do like the way Morris portrays the Fedor women always fighting as a unit to make up for their lack of overwhelming physical strength. Yet again, Morris brings up the plot point of the Sleepers being sexually threatened by tribal people who want to take them as mates, and there are just so many levels of “ick” to that. Attack of the Amazons is probably the roughest physical treatment we’ve seen for any of the Sleepers, especially the boys.
Gender roles/equality is not an easy topic for anyone to tackle, much less a retired male pastor-turned-Christian-fiction-author. Morris has always struggled with his characterization of male versus female characters, oversimplifying some elements while overcomplicating others. Josh and Sarah are always presented as the ideal male-female relationship, and while their friendship-turned-romance is sweet, Morris never really makes any compelling points about love other than “everyone needs a dependable friend.” Abbey and Dave are the Han Solo and Princess Leia of this book, but the only point Morris manages to make in their relationship is that being a jerk to each other isn’t good.
But let’s get to the heart of this story: the gender roles presented in the Fedor society, which is loosely based on that of the Amazons from Greek mythology. The Fedor women make the laws, enforce the laws, hunt for all the food, fight in battles against rival tribes, and generally rule the city. The men, on the other hand, are degraded and abused, being forced into servitude by cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children while being seen as, at best, necessary tools to keep the generations going. It’s much like the societies we’ve seen through history where women are the ones degraded and misused, just with the gender roles flipped.
Morris’ one really interesting, contemplative element in the Fedor society is his portrayal of Faya, the crippled warrior queen, and her consort Chava, a sensitive poet. Faya and Chava actually love one another very much, and while Chava is content serving his wife and taking care of the household, Faya sees him as her closest advisor and treats him with respect and value. Even with the imbalance of power and the flaws in their society, Faya and Chava are portrayed positively as a couple who have found a way to reconcile their roles and their feelings. In one of the more interesting conversations of the book between Chava and Dave, Morris compares Faya and Chava to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. There are a few other complexities in Attack of the Amazons — like the fact that the Fedor women have a male god as their figurehead, and the fact that several of the women are attracted to the more masculine Sleepers — but Faya and Chava’s marriage is the most complex, subtle demonstration of the values Morris is trying to teach.
Sometimes, it’s hard to pick out what exactly those values are, though. Morris attempts to teach a lesson that is, at heart, biblical: when one gender monopolizes control and mistreats the other, society will destroy itself and both genders will be left unfulfilled. Morris, however, is really, really bad at subtlety. He shows the Fedor women as being physically capable enough to fight men in close combat and kill a 300-pound saber-toothed tiger, yet unable to compare to Dave, Josh, and Reb Jackson in a game of football. There’s a physical element to the women’s strength (they are described as larger and more muscular than the men of the tribe), but there is also a mental element in that the men are taught to be submissive from birth and are beaten down when they dare to behave otherwise.
The complexities of the themes in Attack of the Amazons mean that we have a little more variety in our supporting cast than usual, though not necessarily in a good way. We have Merle, Faya and Chava’s fearless daughter who is a leader among the Fedor and struggles with suppressing her emotions in order to appear invulnerable. We have Gaelan, a recently captured slave who despises being dominated by women and clashes in particular with Merle. We have Rolf, Merle’s older brother who is mild-mannered and content with being subjugated despite his natural athletic tendencies (yeah, I know). All these characters are present to challenge the female-dominated society and represent different facets of the lessons Morris is trying to teach.
A lot of the points Morris makes are really solid observations on male-female relationships, especially as our culture has shifted towards a genderless, total-equality mindset. Morris points out that a culture like that (with the extreme example of the Fedor) has to be restructured before either side can understand how harmful the imbalance of power is. He shows the men being enraged at being treated like slaves, and the women being enraged at the men humiliating them publicly to make a point, and that progress cannot be made when both sides are out for revenge. Morris also points out that women lose something valuable when they force themselves to be harsh and unfeeling, and that men lose something equally valuable when they refuse to behave with gentleness and kindness. Morris also doesn’t vilify women like Sarah who want to be strong and courageous in a good way, nor does he condemn men like Chava who have no desire to be warriors. It’s that gentleness and love on both sides, as well as a physical cooperation toward a mutual goal. that ultimately results in resolution, which I appreciate.
However, Attack of the Amazons features a number of mixed messages. Morris acknowledges that some men aren’t cut out for being warriors, but he tends to imply that all women are basically the same: we all want to be loved and complimented, and then we’ll all be content with being wives and mothers. Morris employs lots of catch-all statements about “how women are,” including the classic female manipulation technique and the inability to handle power.
It’s not that Morris is wrong about the differences between men and women: he just oversimplifies and overcomplicated things as usual. Men and women are created differently, physically and emotionally, and men are created to be the leaders of their homes and families; any society that tries to overturn that natural order is going to be twisted in some way. From a biblical perspective, there’s also something to be said about how women usually rise up and seize power when men fail to do so themselves — a subtlety that Morris conveniently overlooks in his explanation about how the Fedor women came to be in power. I have to wonder if Morris would write as passionately about a society where women are the ones being oppressed by cruel men, or if this purely comes from a place of frustration at the women’s lib movement? I guess it doesn’t matter, but it also kind of does.
Also, now that I’ve gotten my literary analysis out, a few notes about how Morris trips his way into even more inconsistencies with previous books in the series, mostly involving his main characters:
• Reb is from Arkansas again after being from Texas for a long time but also occasionally Arkansas.
• Dawn Catalina Daybright was repeatedly described as a redhead throughout Voyage of the Dolphin, but she’s inexplicably blonde now.
• Josh is now the sword expert while Reb is an expert bowman, which is the complete opposite of their established roles in The Sword of Camelot.
• Wash Jones is now the one who gets seasick and needs Reb to take care of him at sea, after they had the exact opposite roles in Voyage of the Dolphin (though it’s to be expected since Reb can do no wrong in Morris’ eyes).
• Dave’s father is now identified as the inventor of the sleep capsule technology that preserved the Sleepers, when it’s been clearly established that Josh’s dad was the vague “scientist” who created the capsules.
• Abbey is now the Sleeper with a noticeable fear of snakes instead of Sarah, while Reb is now afraid of heights after no such thing before.
• Jake has apparently lost the proclivity for cooking he enthusiastically demonstrated in Voyage of the Dolphin.
• Josh, Reb, and Dave are all described as having played varsity football in Oldworld, which is surprising considering they were all fourteen and fifteen at the time of the apocalypse. I’m also 99% sure Morris stated somewhere that Josh never played any sports in school, but I’m not positive.
Attack of the Amazons may not be anything else, but it is thought-provoking. I certainly wouldn’t let my kids read it until they were old enough to understand the nuances and failings of Morris’ gender dynamics, but I also don’t find it so offensive that I’d burn the book. I realize that I’ve just written an incredibly long review about a 165-page kids Christian fiction novel published in the 90s that no one has ever heard of, but it really has bugged me ever since I read it when I was thirteen. I just wish Morris could exercise some delicacy with his subject matter — and not just in this installment of The Seven Sleepers.
As spiritual leader Goél begins gathering his followers for an ultimate battle against the Dark Lord Necros, the Seven Sleepers are sent on a mission to the fierce Fedor tribe deep in the savage jungles. There, they are taken captive and enslaved in a strange society where women are savage warriors and the men are little more than slaves, and all are ruled by the whims of an evil god named Maug and his witchdoctor priestess. As the Sleepers work to free themselves from the cruelty of the Fedor women and bring Goél’s message of love and harmony, they also find themselves pulled into a dangerous tiger hunt, a slowly-growing rebellion, and a battle with yet another ferocious jungle tribe.
Attack of the Amazons is going to take me awhile to unpack, so I’ll start with some simple observations on the plot, characters, and themes. Morris paces his plotline better in this book than in some before, and after a slower start in which the Sleepers trek endlessly through the jungle, their arrival in the Fedor village sparks a quick-moving story that never gets dull. Morris also begins with the best balance between the Seven Sleepers so far; each one gets a little moment to shine and some sort of mini-story before their arrival in the Fedor tribe’s village, though this balance is immediately abandoned in favor of a jumpy, multi-protagonist perspective. Jake Garfield is finally getting a little characterization, but of course he is not only sidelined but completely disregarded for the rest of the book. Josh Adams and Sarah Collingwood continue to have the exact same conversation they’ve had since The Gates of Neptune, though I guess we’ve improved a little because now they kiss at the end of every book.
A new element to Attack of the Amazons (and to The Seven Sleepers series as a whole) is the relationship between Dave Cooper and Abbey Roberts, who up until now have shown no serious feelings for each other. Dave (who hasn’t had a lick of personality since The Caves That Time Forgot) has been mustering all his strength for a lavish display of misogyny and chauvinism, and Abbey has lost some of the maturity she gained in Empress of the Underworld in favor of fighting with Dave constantly for no reason. Abbey wishes for a chance to boss Dave around for once, and Dave belittles, insults, and harassess her incessantly because I guess there has to be some conflict between the Sleepers. Unfortunately, they don’t get the relationship development that Josh and Sarah got,
We do, however, finally get a little update on the brewing conflict between Goél and Necros, though of course the latter doesn’t appear in Attack of the Amazons at all, because why would we include our primary antagonist in more than one scene every few books? It’s nice to see Goél as a battle commander and the commissioner of the Sleepers’ next quest — something that, amazingly, has been lacking since The Caves That Time Forgot. The lessons taught in Attack of the Amazons are fleeting and minimal, mostly limited to “it’s good to have courage!” and “changing a society is hard!” and my personal favorite “no woman wants a sword when she can have a husband and kids instead!” I’ll get into Morris’ agenda in this book in my next few paragraphs, but it really does feel like the Christ-centric, allegorical messages for kids are being replaced by Morris’ personal ideologies about social relationships.
As always, Morris’ inconsistent, illogical worldbuilding drives me insane. The Fedor tribe’s historian Zuriel relates the history of the tribe dating back many generations… despite the fact that exactly fifty-two years have passed since the apocalypse. The Fedor women have managed to “evolve” to be larger and stronger than the men of the tribe, again, in just fifty-two years. Morris has abandoned his Christian-persecution metaphor and his odd Mark-of-the-Beast-style plot point from Flight of the Eagles that keeps anyone from buying or selling. We still have basically no information about who Goél is (other than an implied symbol of Christ), nor of how his kingdom works, nor of any kind of meaningful evangelical Christian parallel. Jake, who was first characterized as an inventor in Winged Raiders of the Desert, somehow builds a functioning handheld alarm despite the fact that Nuworld is devoid of any kind of technology. The Fedor women are very white, though the less-intelligent, more-primitive tribes surrounding them are brown-skinned (I’m just not even going to go there).
A few other notes before I begin my literary analysis. It’s interesting to see Ryland and Dawn Daybright from Voyage of the Dolphin again, even if their stereotypical dialogue about married life is trite and painful. For the third time, Morris includes a headstrong, redheaded female character who has to be taught a lesson; it’s almost like this is a personal vendetta with him. As usual, Morris defines many of his female characters based on how attractive they are, which is especially unfortunate with characters like Merle and Tanisha. I do like the way Morris portrays the Fedor women always fighting as a unit to make up for their lack of overwhelming physical strength. Yet again, Morris brings up the plot point of the Sleepers being sexually threatened by tribal people who want to take them as mates, and there are just so many levels of “ick” to that. Attack of the Amazons is probably the roughest physical treatment we’ve seen for any of the Sleepers, especially the boys.
Gender roles/equality is not an easy topic for anyone to tackle, much less a retired male pastor-turned-Christian-fiction-author. Morris has always struggled with his characterization of male versus female characters, oversimplifying some elements while overcomplicating others. Josh and Sarah are always presented as the ideal male-female relationship, and while their friendship-turned-romance is sweet, Morris never really makes any compelling points about love other than “everyone needs a dependable friend.” Abbey and Dave are the Han Solo and Princess Leia of this book, but the only point Morris manages to make in their relationship is that being a jerk to each other isn’t good.
But let’s get to the heart of this story: the gender roles presented in the Fedor society, which is loosely based on that of the Amazons from Greek mythology. The Fedor women make the laws, enforce the laws, hunt for all the food, fight in battles against rival tribes, and generally rule the city. The men, on the other hand, are degraded and abused, being forced into servitude by cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children while being seen as, at best, necessary tools to keep the generations going. It’s much like the societies we’ve seen through history where women are the ones degraded and misused, just with the gender roles flipped.
Morris’ one really interesting, contemplative element in the Fedor society is his portrayal of Faya, the crippled warrior queen, and her consort Chava, a sensitive poet. Faya and Chava actually love one another very much, and while Chava is content serving his wife and taking care of the household, Faya sees him as her closest advisor and treats him with respect and value. Even with the imbalance of power and the flaws in their society, Faya and Chava are portrayed positively as a couple who have found a way to reconcile their roles and their feelings. In one of the more interesting conversations of the book between Chava and Dave, Morris compares Faya and Chava to Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. There are a few other complexities in Attack of the Amazons — like the fact that the Fedor women have a male god as their figurehead, and the fact that several of the women are attracted to the more masculine Sleepers — but Faya and Chava’s marriage is the most complex, subtle demonstration of the values Morris is trying to teach.
Sometimes, it’s hard to pick out what exactly those values are, though. Morris attempts to teach a lesson that is, at heart, biblical: when one gender monopolizes control and mistreats the other, society will destroy itself and both genders will be left unfulfilled. Morris, however, is really, really bad at subtlety. He shows the Fedor women as being physically capable enough to fight men in close combat and kill a 300-pound saber-toothed tiger, yet unable to compare to Dave, Josh, and Reb Jackson in a game of football. There’s a physical element to the women’s strength (they are described as larger and more muscular than the men of the tribe), but there is also a mental element in that the men are taught to be submissive from birth and are beaten down when they dare to behave otherwise.
The complexities of the themes in Attack of the Amazons mean that we have a little more variety in our supporting cast than usual, though not necessarily in a good way. We have Merle, Faya and Chava’s fearless daughter who is a leader among the Fedor and struggles with suppressing her emotions in order to appear invulnerable. We have Gaelan, a recently captured slave who despises being dominated by women and clashes in particular with Merle. We have Rolf, Merle’s older brother who is mild-mannered and content with being subjugated despite his natural athletic tendencies (yeah, I know). All these characters are present to challenge the female-dominated society and represent different facets of the lessons Morris is trying to teach.
A lot of the points Morris makes are really solid observations on male-female relationships, especially as our culture has shifted towards a genderless, total-equality mindset. Morris points out that a culture like that (with the extreme example of the Fedor) has to be restructured before either side can understand how harmful the imbalance of power is. He shows the men being enraged at being treated like slaves, and the women being enraged at the men humiliating them publicly to make a point, and that progress cannot be made when both sides are out for revenge. Morris also points out that women lose something valuable when they force themselves to be harsh and unfeeling, and that men lose something equally valuable when they refuse to behave with gentleness and kindness. Morris also doesn’t vilify women like Sarah who want to be strong and courageous in a good way, nor does he condemn men like Chava who have no desire to be warriors. It’s that gentleness and love on both sides, as well as a physical cooperation toward a mutual goal. that ultimately results in resolution, which I appreciate.
However, Attack of the Amazons features a number of mixed messages. Morris acknowledges that some men aren’t cut out for being warriors, but he tends to imply that all women are basically the same: we all want to be loved and complimented, and then we’ll all be content with being wives and mothers. Morris employs lots of catch-all statements about “how women are,” including the classic female manipulation technique and the inability to handle power.
It’s not that Morris is wrong about the differences between men and women: he just oversimplifies and overcomplicated things as usual. Men and women are created differently, physically and emotionally, and men are created to be the leaders of their homes and families; any society that tries to overturn that natural order is going to be twisted in some way. From a biblical perspective, there’s also something to be said about how women usually rise up and seize power when men fail to do so themselves — a subtlety that Morris conveniently overlooks in his explanation about how the Fedor women came to be in power. I have to wonder if Morris would write as passionately about a society where women are the ones being oppressed by cruel men, or if this purely comes from a place of frustration at the women’s lib movement? I guess it doesn’t matter, but it also kind of does.
Also, now that I’ve gotten my literary analysis out, a few notes about how Morris trips his way into even more inconsistencies with previous books in the series, mostly involving his main characters:
• Reb is from Arkansas again after being from Texas for a long time but also occasionally Arkansas.
• Dawn Catalina Daybright was repeatedly described as a redhead throughout Voyage of the Dolphin, but she’s inexplicably blonde now.
• Josh is now the sword expert while Reb is an expert bowman, which is the complete opposite of their established roles in The Sword of Camelot.
• Wash Jones is now the one who gets seasick and needs Reb to take care of him at sea, after they had the exact opposite roles in Voyage of the Dolphin (though it’s to be expected since Reb can do no wrong in Morris’ eyes).
• Dave’s father is now identified as the inventor of the sleep capsule technology that preserved the Sleepers, when it’s been clearly established that Josh’s dad was the vague “scientist” who created the capsules.
• Abbey is now the Sleeper with a noticeable fear of snakes instead of Sarah, while Reb is now afraid of heights after no such thing before.
• Jake has apparently lost the proclivity for cooking he enthusiastically demonstrated in Voyage of the Dolphin.
• Josh, Reb, and Dave are all described as having played varsity football in Oldworld, which is surprising considering they were all fourteen and fifteen at the time of the apocalypse. I’m also 99% sure Morris stated somewhere that Josh never played any sports in school, but I’m not positive.
Attack of the Amazons may not be anything else, but it is thought-provoking. I certainly wouldn’t let my kids read it until they were old enough to understand the nuances and failings of Morris’ gender dynamics, but I also don’t find it so offensive that I’d burn the book. I realize that I’ve just written an incredibly long review about a 165-page kids Christian fiction novel published in the 90s that no one has ever heard of, but it really has bugged me ever since I read it when I was thirteen. I just wish Morris could exercise some delicacy with his subject matter — and not just in this installment of The Seven Sleepers.
June 21, 2021
I started The Seven Sleepers Series when I was a young teen, but I only had 6 out of the 10 books of the series.
I have now returned to the series as an adult for the sake of completeness.
I've been rating the books of The Seven Sleepers Series as the children's series it is. Predictable plot, simple characters, obvious moral, but an enjoyable read nonetheless. But I hummed and hawed over the rating for this book and thought a descriptive clarification may be needed.
This book, like the others, had a predictable plot and simple characters, but was enjoyable to read... IF you could look past the rather archaic gender roles. As an example, a quote from one of the female protagonists: "I don't think there's anything more important than a husband and children."
At first I gave Gilbert Morris the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was the protagonists who were ignorant and the experience would educate them. Maybe the lesson in the story wasn't that women should not lead. My hopes were raised when a supporting character said, "No one should rule to the hurt of someone else." That I could get on board with. No one wants a tyrant to lead - male or female; and some of these women were tyrants.
In all honesty, I still don't fully know what the moral of this story was. The final pages of the book gave us this conversation between a male and female protagonist:
I have no problem with the lesson that men and women should work together, but I don't like the insinuation that women cannot lead men.
Perhaps it was just clumsy writing, but I found it disappointing that the resolution came in the form of
I was able to be amused rather than frustrated at the outdated gender roles, so I still found it to be an enjoyable enough read, hence the 3 star rating. But perhaps steer clear if you are not likely to be able to suppress your frustration.
I have now returned to the series as an adult for the sake of completeness.
I've been rating the books of The Seven Sleepers Series as the children's series it is. Predictable plot, simple characters, obvious moral, but an enjoyable read nonetheless. But I hummed and hawed over the rating for this book and thought a descriptive clarification may be needed.
This book, like the others, had a predictable plot and simple characters, but was enjoyable to read... IF you could look past the rather archaic gender roles. As an example, a quote from one of the female protagonists: "I don't think there's anything more important than a husband and children."
At first I gave Gilbert Morris the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was the protagonists who were ignorant and the experience would educate them. Maybe the lesson in the story wasn't that women should not lead. My hopes were raised when a supporting character said, "No one should rule to the hurt of someone else." That I could get on board with. No one wants a tyrant to lead - male or female; and some of these women were tyrants.
In all honesty, I still don't fully know what the moral of this story was. The final pages of the book gave us this conversation between a male and female protagonist:
"Oh, Dave, I was so wrong to talk about women needing to boss men. I see how awful that was."
"You made a mistake, but so did I. Men aren't to boss women around either. I can see that."
"Then how do we get along?"
"Why, we work together," Dave said.
I have no problem with the lesson that men and women should work together, but I don't like the insinuation that women cannot lead men.
Perhaps it was just clumsy writing, but I found it disappointing that the resolution came in the form of
I was able to be amused rather than frustrated at the outdated gender roles, so I still found it to be an enjoyable enough read, hence the 3 star rating. But perhaps steer clear if you are not likely to be able to suppress your frustration.
January 4, 2025
Sometimes you can't fix what's broken, but you can mend a crack. That's exactly what Attack of the Amazons did.
It centralized on not a single Sleeper, but all of them working together to help a tribe where the men are under the women to realize they can all be equal, and that the men, in fact, are stronger. Of course, Gilbert Morris used this to have Abbey and Dave become a thing. But, I mean, who didn't see that one coming.
Josh has taken a new hobby, -other than his previously stated one, holding girls' hands- which is the composing of love letters to Your's Truly, or more commonly known as Sarah Collingwood.
Sarah has brown eyes again now, so at least she isn't creepily using another eye color for this book.
Overall consistency hasn't been a strong point in Gilbert's books, but he had a bit in this one. He resolved conflicts pretty well and kept me relatively interested in what would happen next. Outside of the fact that I predicted exactly what was going to happen, I found it mildly interesting.
The book ends with more romance and love poems which are kinda cringy as usual, but that's okay. Almost all teen romance is..
So, with a heavy heart and the acknowledgement that Gilbert Morris could very well be stalking me I say.... Well done. This was pretty decent and probably the best book so far. Maybe we can head into the end of this blasted series on a good note.
It centralized on not a single Sleeper, but all of them working together to help a tribe where the men are under the women to realize they can all be equal, and that the men, in fact, are stronger. Of course, Gilbert Morris used this to have Abbey and Dave become a thing. But, I mean, who didn't see that one coming.
Josh has taken a new hobby, -other than his previously stated one, holding girls' hands- which is the composing of love letters to Your's Truly, or more commonly known as Sarah Collingwood.
Sarah has brown eyes again now, so at least she isn't creepily using another eye color for this book.
Overall consistency hasn't been a strong point in Gilbert's books, but he had a bit in this one. He resolved conflicts pretty well and kept me relatively interested in what would happen next. Outside of the fact that I predicted exactly what was going to happen, I found it mildly interesting.
The book ends with more romance and love poems which are kinda cringy as usual, but that's okay. Almost all teen romance is..
So, with a heavy heart and the acknowledgement that Gilbert Morris could very well be stalking me I say.... Well done. This was pretty decent and probably the best book so far. Maybe we can head into the end of this blasted series on a good note.
February 27, 2021
I'm not sure how much of this book was actually cringe-worthy, and how much was just kid's-book writing style. Nevertheless, I did cringe at the writing, but I did like the idea behind the plot.
Setting: Uh, Nuworld, after nuclear war? This is why I don't read fantasy. I usually like putting some more realistic in this section. This particular adventure took place in the Fedor tribe, where women were "stronger" than men.
Characters: Some of these character arcs weren't done too well. Of course there were the main characters--the seven sleepers--who generally acted according to their personality. Abbey and Dave learned the lesson in this one--as indicated at the beginning and end resolution--but the middle didn't follow them specifically.
I didn't think Princess Merle's character arc was smooth. I guess it was kind of acceptable, considering her mother's position and understanding, but I didn't think her mother was sufficiently a product of the Fedor culture, either. And as far as character arcs and antagonists go, Marden and Ettore were pretty poor specimens.
Plot: I did really like the plot concept: What would it be like if women did have governmental and militaristic control? Rather, I liked Morris' answer: terrible. However, the demonstration left something to desired (mainly because of Princess Merle's acute character arc). In addition, Goél's instructions--which focused on love--didn't seem to directly address the seven sleepers' predicament. Instead, they convinced the Fedor tribe that men where stronger than women by demonstrating their physical strength, and love was more of a companion. Still, I don't want to take away from the conclusion, which I am sure is controversial in today's heathenish society.
Setting: Uh, Nuworld, after nuclear war? This is why I don't read fantasy. I usually like putting some more realistic in this section. This particular adventure took place in the Fedor tribe, where women were "stronger" than men.
Characters: Some of these character arcs weren't done too well. Of course there were the main characters--the seven sleepers--who generally acted according to their personality. Abbey and Dave learned the lesson in this one--as indicated at the beginning and end resolution--but the middle didn't follow them specifically.
I didn't think Princess Merle's character arc was smooth. I guess it was kind of acceptable, considering her mother's position and understanding, but I didn't think her mother was sufficiently a product of the Fedor culture, either. And as far as character arcs and antagonists go, Marden and Ettore were pretty poor specimens.
Plot: I did really like the plot concept: What would it be like if women did have governmental and militaristic control? Rather, I liked Morris' answer: terrible. However, the demonstration left something to desired (mainly because of Princess Merle's acute character arc). In addition, Goél's instructions--which focused on love--didn't seem to directly address the seven sleepers' predicament. Instead, they convinced the Fedor tribe that men where stronger than women by demonstrating their physical strength, and love was more of a companion. Still, I don't want to take away from the conclusion, which I am sure is controversial in today's heathenish society.
May 2, 2021
In the words of my 6-year-old, “this was fun.” A great adventure into the jungle learning to accept and embrace the way God made you.
July 16, 2021
I enjoyed the story. However, there were some inconsistencies. He is having trouble remembering which character has certain tendencies. He also forgot what color hair one of the side characters had.
May 2, 2025
This was one of my favorite reads growing up. It was fun re-reading it.
March 27, 2022
This one is going to ruffle some feathers. If you've been paying attention, it should not surprise you to learn that this book speaks to traditional gender roles, and acknowledges the typical physical differences between the sexes.
Oh the horror! Yes, this is a book which accepts that men (once again, on average, there are always outliers) are stronger and more aggressive than women.
If this review has offended you, don't read the book.
Oh the horror! Yes, this is a book which accepts that men (once again, on average, there are always outliers) are stronger and more aggressive than women.
If this review has offended you, don't read the book.
July 6, 2008
This series is great if you're a parent and you want to train your children to love long fantasy series.
As an adult, it's kind of stupid. Still, it entertained me as a child.
As an adult, it's kind of stupid. Still, it entertained me as a child.
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April 27, 2010F MOR ss bk.8
July 9, 2012
Really liked how creative the author was with the scenarios he threw the Sleepers into. With the option to have so many different character interactions, it made it really interesting to read.
September 7, 2021
Incredibly cliched, but Chava is the best!
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