Literature / Tennis Shoes Adventure Series

The shoes may or may not be present in each entry.

A series of Latter-Day Saint novels written by the author Chris Heimerdinger. The first book, Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites, centers around two boys, Jim Hawkins and Garth Plimpton, finding a magical cave that sends them back in time to the days of ancient America, during the time of The Book of Mormon. As the series goes on, Jim and Garth grow up and continue to embark on time-travelling adventures in the Book of Mormon, the Bible, and the Doctrine and Covenants.

The series consists of four stages:

Books 1 and 2 are stand-alone adventures where Jim, Garth, and Jim’s sister Jenny deal with people from the Book of Alma.

Books 3 and 4 are a two-parter about the now-adult trio and their families in the Book of 3 Nephi.

Books 5-7 are about Jim's teenage son Harry and his future stepsister Meagan in the late New Testamant.

Books 8-13 are an ever-increasing Rescue Arc that is culminating with the final battle at the end of the Book of Mormon.

The books are:

• Tennis Shoes Among the Nephites (1989)
• Gadiantons and the Silver Sword (1991)
• The Feathered Serpent: Part One (1995)
• The Feathered Serpent: Part Two (1996)
• The Sacred Quest (1997)
• The Lost Scrolls (1998)
• The Golden Crown (1999)
• Warriors of Cumorah (2001)
• Tower of Thunder (2003)
• Kingdoms and Conquerors (2005)
• Sorcerers and Seers (2010)
• Drums Of Desolation (2014)
• Thorns of Glory: Part One (2020)
• Thorns Of Glory Part Two (upcoming; no release date known)

The series also crosses over with Chris Heimerdinger's Passage to Zarahemla and Escape from Zarahemla novels in the twelfth book, Drums of Desolation.

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The series provides examples of...

• 10-Minute Retirement: Towards the end of The Lost Scrolls, Gidgiddonihah says that he feels his warrior days are nearly over, and that he should retire. Initially, he does not get this, as he dies in the next book. But when Harry goes back and alters the timeline, Gid survives to adopt this peaceful, retired life. Later, in Tower Of Thunder, Harry returns to Gidgiddonihah, and Gidgiddonihah is quick to pick up on the fact that Harry needs him "for another adventure."
• The '80s: The first book is heavily implied to take place in this time period.
• Action Dad: Jim can become one when pushed. When his kids are kidnapped by Pochteca he threatens their leader with a knife.
• Action Girl: Tz'ikin.
• Adaptational Villainy: Scholars' knowledge of the actual Mesoamerican historical figures Fireborn and Spearthrower Owl is rather limited; however, they are portrayed as tyrannical, warmongering villains in Warriors of Cumorah, Kingdoms And Conquerors, Sorcerers And Seers, and Drums Of Desolation.
• Adrenaline Makeover: Meagan Sorenson starts out as a self-proclaimed "brooding sourpuss." By the end of her adventure in The Sacred Quest, The Lost Scrolls, and The Golden Crown, she is a lot more sociable.
• Advanced Ancient Humans: In Book 9, the people of 3000 B. C. are shown to have constructed a flying machine-a glider, no less. To be fair, in the chapter endnotes, Chris Heimerdinger cites sources of historical information that influenced his decision to have this in the story.
• All Your Base Are Belong to Us: In the beginning of the ninth book, Akish comes to modern times to the household of Jim Hawkins. Akish believes he'll find his stolen sword there, but is furious to discover he's wrong.
• Almost Out of Oxygen: Jacob Moon's method of torturing Melody is by encasing her head in thick, gum-like material that prevents her from breathing.
  • Near the beginning of Drums Of Desolation, Akish tries to kill Joshua by hanging him by a noose. Fortunately, Marcos saves Joshua at the last minute.
• Aloof Ally: Harry is initially unhappy about Meagan tagging along with him on his quest to ancient times to find Marcos. But by the end, the two of them have became closer.
• Amicable Exes: As a result of the love triangle arc in Warriors Of Cumorah between Meagan, Apollus, and Ryan, Meagan and Ryan end up filling this trope.
• Badass Driver: Jim is this briefly in Gadiantons And The Silver Sword, thanks to the burst of adrenaline that Coriantumr's sword gives him.
• Badass in Distress: In Warriors Of Cumorah, Moroni and several other Nephite warriors are imprisoned at Tikal.
• Band of Brothers: Gidgiddonihah, Micah, and Jesse, to an extent.
• Barrier-Busting Blow: Gidgiddonihah does this when rescuing Harry from Epigonus' villa in The Golden Crown.
• Been There, Shaped History: In Book 11, Jim inadvertently gives Judas Iscariot the idea to betray Jesus Christ.
  • Book 1 somewhat inverts this; Jim is worried about potentially tampering with the events chronicled in the Book of Mormon for fear that it will mess up the timeline. Garth tells him that they're still accountable for their choices, and that they should try to help people out while they're in the past.
• Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Many historical figures in the Bible and the Book Of Mormon, such as Akish, Simon Magus, and Judas Iscariot, are given scant details in the original source material. This series tries to flesh out their characters and fill in the gaps of their backstories.
• Big Bad: There are several as the series goes on.
  • Amalickiah is this for book 1.
  • Although Shurr is said to be the leader of the Gadiantons in book 2, Mehrukenah gets the Big Bad treatment.
  • Jacob Moon is this for books 3 and 4.
  • Simon Magus for books 5 and 6.
  • In book 7, Epigonus is as close as you're gonna get.
  • Todd Finlay, a secondary antagonist in book 2, fills this role in book 8.
  • Nimrod in book 9.
  • Asherah in book 11.
  • Akish, Lamanai, Fireborn, and Spearthrower Owl carry this role throughout books 8 through 12.
• Big Damn Heroes: Towards the end of Gadiantons And The Silver Sword, a plethora of Indians led by Jim's friend Antonio come and save Jim from the mob of Gadiantons.
• Bodyguard Babes: Uguleth and Teshebel act as this to their mother, Asherah.
• Bold Explorer: When you think about it, every conflict throughout the series can be traced back to thirteen-year-old Jim and Garth exploring a cave near their home.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: Mehrukenah and Simon Magus both end up in situations that paint them in this light.
• Bound and Gagged: Several times.
  • First at the end of The Lost Scrolls, when the Sons of the Elect have Harry, Gidgiddonihah, Garth, Meagan, and Jesse tied up.
  • Todd Finlay does this to Rebecca and Joshua when he captures them at Lagoon.
• Break the Badass: The tough Nephite warrior Gidgiddonihah is beaten badly by the Roman soldiers at the beginning of The Golden Crown.
• Bring News Back: After Harry is captured by the Romans and sent off as a slave, Meagan and Garth have no choice but to time-travel back to the 21st century to tell Harry's father Jim what happened, and that they need help.
• The Bus Came Back: The series loves doing this. If a character doesn’t die or get a happy ending, they’re likely to return.
• Cast Herd: Not so much in the first five books, but by the time of book 10 there are ten narrators and twice as many relevant characters. See the character page for details.
• Casual Danger Dialogue: Meagan does this when being interrogated by the Sons of the Elect, in an attempt to make herself sound like an all-knowing prophetess. Her efforts are in vain.
• Catch a Falling Star: In Kingdoms And Conquerors, Ryan and Jacobah are both thrown into a snake pit to be killed. To both of their surprise, God saves them from the fall.
• The Cavalry: Several examples:
  • In Gadiantons And The Silver Sword, Antonio and his Indian friends come to save Jim from the Gadiantons at the last minute.
  • The climax of The Lost Scrolls looks grim for our heroes. Fortunately, the Romans led by Apollus come in time to save them.
  • In The Golden Crown, Gidgiddonihah and his band of Nephite warriors saving Harry from Epigonus' villa.
  • At the end of Tower Of Thunder, Joshua and Rebecca are at the mercy of Akish, only for Harry, Pagag, Gidgiddonihah, Micah, and Jesse to come along and best Akish in a fight. Despite this, Akish still escapes with Joshua.
  • Steffanie and Pagag, along with the Lamanite warrior sled by Sa'abkan, coming to the rescue at the end of Kingdoms And Conquerors.
  • Antionum and his Lamayan soldiers saving the heroes' entourage from the Gadianton Ghosts in Sorcerers And Seers. Even if they do betray the heroes later...
• The Centerpiece Spectacular: Though marketed as the main premise of the book, the adventerous car trip through Mexico doesn't actually start until halfway through Gadiantons And The Silver Sword.
• The Chain of Harm: Jacob Moon is more than willing to do this to his followers.
• Climb, Slip, Hang, Climb: Anytime the main characters are going through Frost Cave to find the Rainbow Room.
• Clipboard of Authority: In the seventh book, Apollus is treated as if he has one.
• Conspicuous Trenchcoat: Jim and his friends find it easy to identify a Gadianton follower in the second book, thanks to this trope.
• Contrived Coincidence: Lampshaded and justified. Whenever the heroes time travel accidentally, they always emerge in time to be involved in some important event in Christian history. They deduce that this is simply because God is putting them where they need to be to learn an important lesson.
  • This is even weaponized in the intro of Book 10, when Jim and Jenny, unsure of where they need to go, decide to just jump in and count on providence to put them where they’re meant to be. And while it starts out a little hairy, they turn out to be right.
• Convenient Cranny: While being chased by an angry curelom, Jim and Harry are accidentally buried under a mound of dirt that hides them from the curelom.
• Convenient Enemy Base: Not long after Jim, Garth, and Jenny show up in Nephite times in the first book, they find themselves in the Lamanites' territory.
• Convenient Escape Boat: This happens when the Lightning Warriors attack the main heroes in Kingdoms And Conquerors.
• Conveniently Timed Guard: Right after Jim discovers the corpse of his boss, Doug Bowman, the police show up at Doug's house to arrest him.
• Create Your Own Villain: Jacob Moon, the main antagonist of the third and fourth books, is actually the Gadianton warrior Boaz from the second book. After serving time in an insane asylum in the modern day, Boaz adopted the alias Jacob Moon, went back to Nephite times, and took over the Gadianton cult by force.
• Cycle of Revenge: Ever since Fireborn brought about the death of his father, Lamanai vies to exact revenge on Fireborn. At first, this causes Lamanai and Fireborn to be on opposite sides.
• Dare to Be Badass: In book 10, the Zealots try to force Jim to do this. Their leader, Bar Abba, heard the story of how Jim brought his sister back to life, ^note He had actually performed CPR on her. and believes him to be a miracle worker.
• Dead Man's Trigger Finger: Right after Gidgiddonihah is shot by a Scythian warrior, he still deals the final blow before breathing his last breath.
• Deadpan Snarker: Meagan starts out as this. Even after she goes through her character development, she still displays hints of this.
  • Brock McConnell as well, in Drums Of Desolation.
• Death Course: The mountains of Desolation. First there's Jacob's assassins, then the pesky mosquitos, then the herd of territorial cureloms.
• Dog Pile of Doom: The Golden Crown opens with a plethora of Roman soldiers ganging up on Harry and Gidgiddonihah, capturing them to be sold as slaves.
• Empty Quiver: In book 8, Todd Finlay eventually finds the mystical sword of Akish he's been craving for years. Of course, the sword ends up in the hands of its creator, Akish.
• Everyone Chasing You: All throughout the series.
  • In Gadiantons And The Silver Sword, not only the Gadiantons are after Jim, but also Todd Finlay.
  • The Feathered Serpent, Part One. The men of King Jacob Moon seek revenge on Jim and his family and have framed Jim for killing his boss, meaning the police have a warrant out on him. Even worse, when Jim and his family travel back to Nephite times, they find themselves in the crosshairs of the Pochteca.
  • In Warriors Of Cumorah, Becky, Joshua, and Mary all end up in Israel in the 19th century. As if having Todd Finlay and several corrupt Muslims after them isn't bad enough, it turns out Akish is there, too.
• Extremely Short Timespan: Jim's side plot throughout the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth books all take place over the course of two days.
• Fed to the Beast: Simon Magus opts to kill Saturninus with a poisonous snake.
  • Again in book 10, when the Lacandones try to kill Ryan and Jacobah by throwing them into the snake pit.
• Fictionalized Death Account: The Book of Mormon doesn't provide much in the way of details on Akish's death. However, Book 12 of this series sees him killed in cold blood.
• Fiery Redhead: Meagan's natural hair color is strawberry blonde, and she can have a hot temper at times.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: Every single book.
• Flaming Emblem: Fireborn's name, and the way his attire is described, somewhat fits this trope.
• Forced Prize Fight: Towards the end of The Sacred Quest, Roman slave drivers force Marcos and Gidgiddonihah to participate in gladiatoral matches.
  • Once again in Kingdoms And Conquerors, when Apollus and Gidgiddonihah are forced to fight one another to the death. Luckily, Harry and Mary are able to stop the fight.
• Friend to All Children: Jesus Christ is portrayed as this.
• Giving Radio to the Romans: Jim, Garth, and company take a lot of modern artifacts with them when they go back in time. Not surprisingly, the people of ancient times are amazed by their modern artifacts.
• Giving the Sword to a Noob: Quite literally in Gadiantons And The Silver Sword. Todd Finlay is the police officer that Jim gives the sword of Coriantumr to, and he later finds himself seduced by the sword's magic.
• Gladiator Games: In Kingdoms And Conquerors, when Apollus and Gidgiddonihah are forced to fight one another.
• Gladiator Revolt: Harry starts one in The Sacred Quest, when he rescues Marcos and Gidgiddonihah.
• Got Volunteered: This often happens as a consequence of the heroes' actions.
  • In book 2, after Muleki is incarcerated in the hospital, the responsibility of dealing with the cursed sword falls to Jim Hawkins.
  • Thanks to Harry and Meagan taking a valuable scroll from its hiding place, and Meagan and Jesse being kidnapped by the Sons of the Elect, Harry is forced to embark on a quest to save them and retrieve the scrolls.
• Great Escape: In book 1, when Jim and Garth sneak out of the Lamanites' camp.
  • Again in book 6, when Meagan and Jesse find a way out of the Sons of the Elect's catacombs.
• Hallway Fight: An extended version of this occurs during the rescue from Epigonus' villa.
• Heel–Face Turn: Marcos undergoes this after falling in love with Melody.
  • And, to a lesser extent, Saturninus. He expresses a desire to abandon the Sons of the Elect, but his plans never come to fruition.
  • Rafa the falcon as well, after Harry heals him from an injury and feeds him food.
  • Lamanai, big-time. He starts out as an ally to the heroes, but he betrays them midway through ''Kingdoms And Conquerors.
• Heroes Unlimited: The cast of characters in books 10-12 is so enormous, the author had to add dossiers at the openings of those books.
• Historical Character'sFictionalRelative: Akish's wife is unnamed in the Book of Mormon; in this series, her name is Asherah. Not to mention, they had several extra children.
• Historical Domain Hero: Teancum, the prophet Nephi, Jesus Christ, the Apostles John and Orson Hyde, Moses, Mormon, and Moroni.
• Hitchhiker Heroes: Gidgiddonihah, Zedekiah, Jesse, Micah, Mary, Symeon, Jacobah, Pagag, Rafa, Tz'ikin, Gilgal, Moroni, and Hamira all qualify for this trope.
• Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: Throughout their adventures, Jim Hawkins, Garth Plimpton, and their extended families and friends have Gadiantons, Lamanites, Sons of the Elect, and other villains out to get them.
• Improbable Infant Survival: When Akish comes to Jim's house in the modern day, he orders one of his sons to kill Jim's infant son. Luckily, Sabrina defends her baby.
• Ineffectual Death Threats: At the end of Kingdoms And Conquerors, Apollus and Lamanai part ways on icy terms, swearing that if they cross paths again, they will show no mercy to each other. When they do meet up in the next book, they are...rather civil toward each other. Granted, their reunion takes place at a formal war council meeting, but still.
• Innocuously Important Episode: In book 2, Boaz is treated as a minor character who, once he's taken out, is never seen again. But, of course, his defeat actually sets up his villain's backstory in the next book.
• Last Villain Stand: Nimrod and Mardon try to do this at the end of book 9. Unfortunately for them, God has already confounded their tongues, meaning they speak in different languages and cannot communicate to formulate a plan.
• Let's Get Out of Here: Situations like this occur in books 4, 6, 9, 11, and 12.
• Let's You and Him Fight: The Lacandones and Chamulans use lies and manipulation to get Apollus and Gidgiddonihah to fight one another in a gladiatoral match.
• Little Stowaway: In book 1, Jim is annoyed when he discovers that his pesky little sister Jenny has followed him and Garth up Cedar Mountain.
  • Happens again in book 4, when ten-year-old Harry follows his father on his quest to Jacobugath.
• Long Runner: Has been being written for over thirty years! Although the first eight or so books were all written over the course of twelve, a pretty typical rate. It’s only in the finale arc that things have slowed down.
• Magic Ais Magic A: The time travel always works the same way: travel to certain spots in the world (most often Frost Cave in modern-day Wyoming), and eventually you’ll come out in a different era. This works for everyone, regardless of moral affiliation. Traveling also grants you the gift of tongues for people in that era, no matter your background. As the series goes on, we start to see more iterations of time travel, but they still stick to the fundamentals of this.
• Magnetic Hero: The main characters, particularly Jim Hawkins and his son Harry, have an easy time attracting allies in their quests.
• Make Room for the New Plot: The Akish subplot is resolved early on in book 12, allowing the rest of the book to focus on the buildup for the climactic battle of Cumorah.
• Mangst: Jim, Harry, and Joshua all have this moment.
• The Meddling Kids Are Useless: In book 1, Jim and Garth don't really do much fighting against the Lamanites, and yet the Nephites have still scored a victory against them in the end.
• Mistaken for Badass: This happens to Garth, Jim, Apollus, Meagan, Ryan, Harry, and Steffanie at various points in the series.
• Mistaken for Spies: When Jim, Steffanie, and Harry show up to the Nephite village in book 3, the citizens mistake them for men of Jacob and capture them.
• Most Definitely Not Accompanying Us: Subverted. At the end of book 9, Harry tries to convince Rebecca to go back to their home century while everyone else goes to find Joshua. Rebecca refuses, and she ends up going with Harry, Steffanie, and their companions.
• Narnia Time: Time in the past seems to operate this way, as two months in the past equate to six hours in the present in Book 1. However, this starts shifting in later books, which causes no end of grief to people waiting for loved ones.
• Neutral Female: This happens with Jenny, Renae, Melody, Meagan, Mary, and Rebecca.
• Nice Guy: Mary Symeon.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In The Sacred Quest, Meagan takes a scroll from a cave near Quamran, thinking she can sell it for big bucks in the modern day. She later finds out that it's the book of Matthew from the New Testament, but not before it falls into the crosshairs of villains such as Simon Magus and Epigonus.
• No Historical Figures Were Harmed: Since the books are all about going back in time to historical events, this trope was destined to come into play.
• No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: When Jim, Garth, and Jenny are captured by the Lamanites in book 1, they are taken to a Lamanite dinner.
• No One Gets Left Behind: In book 12, Joshua initially refuses to leave Hamira behind.
• No One Should Survive That!: Apollus escaping from the cave midway through book 7.
• Non Violent Initial Confrontation: In book 3, Jim goes to Melody's boyfriend Quinn to question him about his daughter's whereabouts. Though Quinn fears him, Jim goes for a more questioning approach.
• Not Worth Killing: At the end of book 10, Lamanai decides to let the heroes live, since he feels they have served their purpose.
• An Offer You Can't Refuse: Sort of. In Book 2, Mehrukenah kidnaps Jim's three companions and uses them as leverage to get Jim to meet up with him to hand over Coriantumr's sword. Jim shows up, but he later double-crosses Mehrukenah.
• Opt Out: Midway through Book 7, Garth decides not to go back to 73 A. D. to help save Harry, as he doesn't want to leave his family again.
• Passing the Torch: As Jim grows older throughout the series, he admits that he has (for now) allowed his kids to take up the mantle of adventurer.
• Protect This House: Occurs when Akish attacks the Hawkins' modern-day household.
• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Every now and then, the main characters encounter villages that underwent this treatment.
• Real Event, Fictional Cause: In Sorcerers And Seers, Jim accidentally influences Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus Christ.
• The Rest Shall Pass: When Jim is going after the wicked men who kidnapped his daughter Melody, he brings his other kids Steffanie and Harry with him. At the end of Book 3, Jim leaves Harry and Steffanie behind while he goes on ahead with a group of warriors and trackers. Although, Harry ends up following and joining them.
• River of Insanity: In Book 1, Jim, Garth, and Jenny discover the Rainbow Room and fall into a river that takes them through a time-travel rift. As a result, they end up in Nephite times.
  • Happens again to Meagan, Apollus, and Ryan in Book 8.
• Rooftop Confrontation: Happens in Book 9 and 10.
• Rubber-Band History: The story arc of Books 5-7 is that Harry and Meagan may have accidentally altered history by taking a scroll from Quamran, and they must work hard to fix the problem.
  • Later, when Joshua expresses his desire to stop the Nephites from being destroyed, his parents rub this concept in his face.
• Salvage Pirates: In the beginning of Book 10, Jim and Jenny are transported to ancient Jerusalem and end up in the side of a hill. They are dug out, but their rescuers turn out to be Zealots operating under the wicked Barabbas.
• Scaling the Summit: The Rainbow and Galaxy Rooms must be reached by climbing Cedar Mountain and traversing a cave near the top.
• Secret Path: Meagan and Jesse find one when they're being held by the Sons of the Elect.
• Separated from the Adults: Jim, Garth, and Jenny all sneak out of their parents' houses to embark on their first adventure to ancient times.
  • Harry and Meagan later do the same.
• Shark Pool: In Book 9, Harry encounters an underground pool with a Mosasaurus swimming in it.
• Shown Their Work:
  • A decent amount of work is put into depicting the more historical peoples, such as the 4th century Maya and the first century Israelites. Starting in the eighth book, each chapter includes an addendum explaining the real-life elements depicted there in.
    • This is actually part of the appeal of the series, as Mormons enjoy learning about the eras surrounding scriptural events.
  • In addition, the scriptural events are always depicted accurately, even avoiding the Beam Me Up, Scotty! tendencies most adaptations have.
• Slave Galley: Harry is undergoing this in book 7 when he meets Micah.
• Slave Liberation: It's not like the heroes set out to rescue slaves, but it seems to happen a lot.
• Storming the Castle: Several times.
  • First in The Feathered Serpent, Part Two. Jim and his companions ally with an army of warriors to storm Jacobugath to rescue Melody, Garth, and the other captives.
  • In The Lost Scrolls, Harry, Gidgiddonihah, Mary, and Symeon all have to get into the city of Jerusalem-while it's under siege from the Romans-in order to find the Scroll of Knowledge.
  • In book 8, Apollus, Lamanai, and Ryan lead an attack on Tikal to save Moroni.
  • Harry, Gidgiddonihah, Micah, and Jesse attack the Tower of Babel in book 9 to save Steffanie.
• Take Over the World: Jacob Moon expresses this desire.
• Take Up My Sword: Midway through Book 2, Muleki is badly injured by Mehrukenah, and he ends up saying this to Jim.
• Taking Over the Town: Jacob Moon, Spearthrower Owl, Fireborn, and Akish are all guilty of this.
• Those Were Only Their Scouts: The main characters immediately suspect this when they encounter a pair of Gadianton Ghost scouts.
• Time Bomb: When Harry goes back in time to prevent Gidgiddonihah from being killed, he encounters this danger; if he stays in the past while his past self is still present, he could very well fade from existence.
• Translator Microbes: Explained in detail in the first book.
  • No one in the eras they visit should be speaking English, yet to their ears everyone they meet IS speaking English. However, sometimes people they meet don’t understand each other, and claim they’re speaking different languages, even while the heroes themselves can still understand them. Garth deduces thus that traveling through time has given them the gift of tongues - here meaning the ability to speak languages you have not learned - and the gift of interpretation of tongues - meaning the ability to understand the same. Everyone hears them as speaking the language they’re most familiar with, even when speaking to multiple language groups at the same time.
  • This only extends to people from other times, however, as Jim doesn’t understand the Spanish his modern-day friends speak.
• Trial of the Mystical Jury: This happens to Jim in Book 3, and to Harry in Book 7. Even if Jim and Harry are innocent in each case.
  • The prologue of Book 12 hints that this could happen to Jim again in the next book.
• Trick-and-Follow Ploy: Towards the end of Book 6, Harry, Garth, and Gidgiddonihah go to Mount Gerizim to give the Scroll of Knowledge to Simon Magus, as a means of buying time for the Roman army to arrive.
• Unstoppable Rage: When Kumarcaah kidnaps Steffanie and Harry, Jim lets his anger out on Kumarcaah and forces him to release his kids.
• World of Badass: Oh, yeah.
• World of Snark: Not much for the ancient characters, but the modern characters are full of one-liners.
• Villainous Rescue: Sort of-in Book 5, Harry, Meagan, and Jesse are surrounded by hyenas, and Simon Magus scares off the hyenas so he can talk to them.
• Violence Is Disturbing: As the series goes on, this trope is exemplified.
• When You Coming Home, Dad?:
  • From the third book on, Garth is frequently away from his family on either proselytizing missions or rescue missions. He’s a very caring father, but it’s noted to be difficult on Jenny, at least.
  • Inverted in Books 5-7. Jim Hawkins spends most of them missing his son Harry and wondering if and when he'll return home safe.

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