City Of The Cyborgs

“But what’s wrong with these people?” he cried. “They look like they’re dead!”

Josh said, “Right now, all I can tell you is that somehow these people are no more than mechanical robots.”

Book: City Of The Cyborgs by Gilbert Morris, Moody Publishers, 2000

Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Adventure/Futuristic

Target Audience: Boys and Girls 13-17

Subject: Freedom, Ability to feel, Technology

Summary: It’s a tough decision to begin with. Goel did not actually send them to this city to help Rainor rescue his beloved, they just made the best decision they could without having input from Him. Then they arrive at the city and realize it’s a city of cyborgs! The people have all been turned into robots! Each person has had a device installed in their heads and been taught to do whatever the Peacemaker tells them to do. He tells them when to sleep, when to eat, where to go – every action they make. Feelings are removed. They are merely mechanically acting upon the word that comes into their headsets. And any who do not have the headsets are an obvious target for the Peacemaker to capture. How are they going to get Rainor’s beloved out of this city without getting captured? And if they get her away, will she ever be able to think for herself again? Can they even remove the headset without killing her?

Notes: This story touches on the issue of feelings. A character says she wants to remain hooked up to the headsets because then she will feel no fear or pain. Freedom to think includes freedom to fear and hurt. The sleepers have to not just tell her, but show her, that the feelings of joy and love and freedom are worth the cost.  The Seven Sleepers series is Science Fiction in that it is futuristic. It is not meant to be fantasy. It is meant to be realistic fiction set in the future, but it seems like fantasy most of the time! The story takes place after the earth has been almost destroyed by nuclear warfare. What's left has been genetically changed and messed up. All sorts of strange creatures and people exist now that didn't before. Whether it be giants, dinosaurs or something else, most of "Nuworld" is strange and seems like something that could only exist in fantasy. The sleepers are 7 children who were placed in sleep capsules right before the war began, then the capsules opened 50 years later to this genetically altered world. This particular book focuses much more on sci-fi elements than the fantasy elements the series often does.

Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

Ecclesiastes 3:10-14 – I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.