Book Review – Flight of the Eagles by Gilbert L. Morris

Flight of the Eagles

Flight of the Eagles by Gilbert L. Morris

Synopsis:

In Gilbert L. Morris’s post-apocalyptic Christian adventure Flight of the Eagles, the first book in the Seven Sleepers series, fourteen-year-old Josh Adams awakens from a fifty-year cryogenic sleep to discover a ravaged world transformed by nuclear devastation, filled with mutated races and ruled by the oppressive Sanhedrin priests. Guided by a mysterious servant, Josh embarks on a perilous quest to locate and awaken the other six teenage “Sleepers,” fulfilling an ancient prophecy that they will serve the enigmatic Goél in the battle against darkness. Along the way, the group faces dangers from giants, treacherous marshes, captures, and internal doubts that test their emerging faith and unity. Blending exciting fantasy quests with clear allegorical elements

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Review

I did not read these as a child but did read them as part of a book discussion with a group from the Periapsis Press site that plans to review the series. While the initial start of the book appears to be more sci-fi in nature, with the nuclear apocalypse, this book reads more like a fantasy novel. I can see the appeal to the reading audience of teenage boys and girls who grew up Christian, albiet in 1994 – and this, this reads very much of the time of the 90s YA. There is that charm to it that doesn’t know the weirder world to come post-2000s.

Having normals characters of Josh and Sarah as the main focus of the boy and girl, the fact that they are just normal is odd with the YA (and YA post-apocalypse) genres in the post-2016s. But with seven characters to find in this book Morris flies through the story so fast. Having the puzzles to solve is fun but there’s not time for the reader to “help” in the discovery before the characters figure it out as quick as Robin always figured out the Riddler’s very specific riddles in the ’66 Batman. But without a doubt, the inclusion of Reb is the best character. He has the best lines. He has the best takes. Those that view him a “problematic” don’t realize the time period from where these characters came from to turn into different characters after learning their lesson. But reading anything with Reb is a hoot.

The rest of the plot is pretty bland. I have no clue who the bad guys really are or what they want. There is no “Aslan is Jesus” here it’s just “Jesus is Jesus” here. However, what’s odd about this story is the lack of people mentioning God or Jesus; no conversion moment; no one talking about the Bible or cringe storytelling found in 90s Christian fiction. Which in one sense is quite interesting here but Morris does nothing with it as there are too many characters, too little on the plot, too little of the pacing, and some too straightforward deus ex moments.

However, it’s not a bad book just a bit too bland story. From other readers, it seems like after book one things pace themselves out more and the bad guys get more fleshed out. As for this one, it falls into the “meh” category.

Final Grade

C-