American Century Books In Order

Publication Order of American Century Books

American Century is a series of novels by one of the most prolific Christian and Christy Award-winning authors, Gilbert Morris. One of the most popular Christian novelists of the time, Morris has sold more than 7 million copies of his novels in more than 100 novels spread over more than 30 series and standalone novels. Morris is a former English professor and pastor that loves to write historical fiction interspersed with Christian concepts. Gilbert who sometimes goes by Gilbert Leslie Morris or Gilbert L. Morris was born to Jewell Irene Gilbert and Osceola M Morris in Forrest City Arkansas in 1929. He pastored for more than a decade before he quit to go work at the Ouchita Baptist University in Arkansas where he was Professor of English. He did his Post graduate studies form the University of London from 1984 to 1985. Ever since he published his debut novel The Honorable Impostor in 1986, Gilbert became a prolific author penning an average of more than two novels a year by himself and several collaborations. Bethany House Publishers publishes most of his novel though he has published a few of his novels with other Christian publishers. In 2001 he won one of the most prestigious awards in the Christian fiction world, the Christy Award for the novel Edge of Honor a popular Civil War drama. He lives in Alabama and is married to Johnnie and has three children Allan Morris, Lynn Morris and Eric Green. He has written a novel with Alan Morris.

Gilbert Morris has written a ton of novels in historic fiction and Christian fiction. Most of Morris’s novels in are about ancient American history and particularly the prominent pioneer families that made a mark on American history back then. His novels are more than just preachy works as he deals with social systems, community frameworks, world wars, civil systems that permeate generations or governments. While many of the novels that Morris has written including the American Century series and the House of Winslow series are set in the prehistoric times, a lot of the themes in the novels also deal with modern day events and topics. With so many great and popular novels, the American Century alongside the House of Winslow series stands out as some of the best series that Gilbert has ever written with more than 47 titles between them. With more than 100 titles to his name what makes the books and characters in the novels so great is the fact that almost all of Morris’s characters have their weaknesses, flaws regardless of whether they are old, young, female or male. For the author what makes a character so believable is that they are never perfect just like the ordinary man on the street. Writing in the style of the great authors such as Dickens, all the characters have some peculiarity that makes them so memorable to the reader.

The American Century series that was originally titled the American Odyssey Series when it debuted in 1994 is a series of historical Christian fiction novels following the lives of the Stuart family of Arkansas. The series debuted with the novel A Bright Tomorrow that that first came out in 1994 and was later renamed A Time to Be Born when the series was republished in 2005. The series culminated in 2008 when Gilbert published the conclusion to the series Dawn of a New Day. Gilbert who has claimed to write in the Sidney Sheldon style of dictating first writes with a warmhearted style and charm that never fails to draw in his reader. The American Century series is similar to the House of Winslow series though it does not happen on that much of a large scale. The series has several story-lines running alongside each other and across several generations of the Stuarts. From the Depression, World War I and World War II to the Korean War, to the Civil War, and including historical figures from Roosevelt and the changing norms in culture and social norms, it is all in the novels. The novels immerse one in the bold nature of the men of the Stuart family including their romances, going to fight in the various wars, growing up to have families, and make their fortunes in an ever evolving America. From the Arkansas Hills to the German battlegrounds, from the Korean forests to the American prairies, from the Ozarks to Hollywood, these are intimate and emotional novels about one of the most prominent of American families.

A Bright Tomorrow that was previously titled A Time to be Born introduces the Stuart family. The family that lives in the Arkansas Hills is composed of eight siblings who were brought up under Christian teachings by their mother Marian. But as her three oldest Owen, Amos, and Lylah decide to leave home none seem to follow the path that their mother had set out for them. The novel is set at the start of the twentieth century when the United States was experiencing an unprecedented period of opportunity and growth. Full of prominent historical figures the likes of James Randolph and Theodore Roosevelt, this is a fascinating novel that draws insights from the excitement of the times particularly in how they affect the different members of the Stuart family. As the Stuarts become adults the nation develops into the growing pains and pangs of war and uncertainty that make for some thrilling reads.

Hope Takes Flight that used to go by A Time to Die is a novel set just before the beginning of the century when three of the oldest Stuart siblings left home to go find their destinies in the land of opportunity. They are now reunited in the Arkansas Hills home that they left decades ago. But their visit is interrupted when the USA edges closer to joining the World War in an unexpected turn of events, forcing Amos and Lylah to go back to the city. Within the months the siblings together with their elder brother Gavin find themselves deep in a war they had never expected would happen. But with worsening conditions in Europe they have to face up to the fact that one of them could die in the European theater. Will the entire family go back to Arkansas safe and sound or will the War leave an indelible mark in the family?