1. ionaofavalon says:

    Chronicles of Prydian! My dad introduced me to those, I was a little older than the target audience, but I loved them anyway. His Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen, a story set in ancient China is also fantastic.  

  2. Kessie says:

    I recently read Lamb’s Rise of the Machines, on marketing via social media. Her advice is to blog, first of all. But tap into high concept. That’s any idea with a lot of shared mental real estate among people–cats, laundry, exercise, deaths in the family, love, friendships, etc. SpecFaith used to have a lot of that kind of content, but lately it’s become very myopic. The Bible, stuff about the Bible, narrow views of one fiction genre, ten authors, and Harry Potter. No more high concept topics. I confess my attention has wandered.
     
     I wish I could tune into Spec Faith and get commentary on recent cultural things. Is the Lego Movie really anti Christian, as some people are hysterically screaming? How should a Christian approach a book like Daughter of Smoke and Bone, which is a romance between an angel and a demon? Is it more heretical than Moonblood, where the unicorns seek forgiveness from the moon goddess?
     
    What new books are coming out, not just in the Christian arena, but the secular arena? Can you possibly endorse Dream Thieves by Stiefvater even though there’s astrology and drug abuse and, for heaven’s sake, CUSS WORDS??
    I’d just like a little more high concept/relevance, please.

    • SpecFaith used to have a lot of that kind of content, but lately it’s become very myopic. The Bible, stuff about the Bible, narrow views of one fiction genre, ten authors, and Harry Potter. No more high concept topics. I confess my attention has wandered.

      I second that emotion Kessie. It’s not so much a criticism of the content in and of itself, but the limitation of the subject matter. I think, currently, everything’s very important: I’d like a little more wimsy. However, I understand part of the difficulty is that several of the main writers have ended their regular updates, and Becky and Stephen are having to fill in the gaps. I know they both probably would like more variety, and I hope someone comes along to fill the Fred Warren-sized hole we have around here.

    • Sounds like you’re requesting, in part, expanded reviews of “secular” stuff. 😀

      For my part, I can confirm that no, The Lego Movie is not anti-Christian. (And I also confess I’ve not seen claims to the effect that it is; perhaps I simply hang out with more-informed Christians?) If anything, the film pulled a stunning fast-one with a story supporting not only a good creator’s rights over creation, but condemnation of the kind of conformity that’s unique to technocrats-acting-like-mega-corporations.

    • dmdutcher says:

      The problem I see is that Christian fandom has two types. 
       
      1. The Christian speculative fiction geek
       
      2. The Christian speculative fiction geek.
       
      There seems to be a lot more of the former than the latter. I think Rebecca’s point is more how (or even if) we make number 1 also number 2. I worry sometimes that for all the effort, no one really cares about number 2; they just want a christian gloss on secular stuff. People would rather buy “The Theology of Doctor Who” than an actual Christian SF book, regardless of quality.

      • I think you’ve nailed it dm. I’m looking for Christian Speculative Fiction. I have no interest in reading heathen fiction any more. The world has gotten too rough, evil books are commonplace, and I want entertainment that builds me up (or at least helps me remember who I am). And then there’s the increasingly important task of getting ready for the Coming King.

      • Which is why SpecFaith hopes to reach both kinds of readers. The SpecFaith Library lists only speculative novels marketed as Christian speculative in nature. The SpecFaith reviews offer Christians evaluations of novels that are both “secular” and marketed as Christian.

    • Julie D says:

      Just my two cents on Moonblood–it’s made fairly clear within the book that the “moon goddess” is subordinate to the Creator.

  3. Kessie says:

    Also, props for the Halo image. I love those games! But is an M rated game appropriate for this site? The bad aliens are religious nut jobs waging a holy war on humans!

  4. I’m somewhat like you, Rebecca. I’m a compulsive reader, I guess. When I was young I read it for escape from the pain of junior and senior high school. Later I read for insight into different societies and especially for original thought. But at 2-5 books a week, nothing lasts except romance, and I don’t like mushy romances though I love and expect a good male/female relationship in all I read. I’m not sure that 300 books a year are even released of the type I love.
    Lately I’m back into fantasy again after a 35 year hiatus, because it’s the only place I can find exciting books with an occasional Christian world view. But then, as you mention, those are very hard to find. In the past three/four months I’ve found more than a dozen books and trilogies (which currently barely make up one decent book).
    As I long for the days of explosive Christian power I experienced when I came to the Lord in the mid-70s, I long for the days of life-changing books: Gone With the Wind, Stranger In A Strange Land, Ringworld, the Azimov set, Dune, Hobbit, LOTR, McCauffrey, LeGuin, and many others. I guess I’m too old to even expect that anymore. Plus, the heathen books have gotten grotesquely evil over the past couple decades. I left sci fi and then fantasy in the late sixties because of the focus on free sex with anyone, any gender, or any thing. But with the spirit of lawlessness set loose on the land, all heathen books are quickly heading that direction. 50 Shades of Gray, give me a break, that one’s clearly dark black.

    But I read and review and share and so on. All I can do is share who I am, right? CBD has abdicated, and there’s no one else nearly large enough to do anything that I know of. Maybe Laube can get something going, but so far his vision seems a bit insular.

  5. Literaturelady says:

    Maybe it would help to write reviews praising a book not as “a twist of traditional fantasy” or “a fresh voice in supernatural thrillers” but praising  the story.  The characters.  Not the genres.

    Maybe also the responsibility shouldn’t fall entirely on authors and folks who want to spread the word.  I read like you, Becky: anything good I can get my hands on.  To find books like that, I look all kinds of places: bookstore and library shelves (which is how I found The Mirror’s Tale), review blogs, author blogs, books with lists of books for age groups, and occasionally, I type in the title of a book on Amazon and then browse their “more like this” section.  Maybe those multi-genre readers have a responsibility to look for what they want.
     
    Lastly, I have to agree with Kessie.  In addition to the topics circulating here, I would love to read articles about Lord of the Rings, the new Ender’s Game film, suggestions why one spec novel works while a similar one doesn’t, why some books have wider reader appeal than others, whether romance  detracts or adds to stories, maybe trends of how often character development occurs in male-authored works as opposed to female-authored works (took samples recently–there is a difference!!), what time periods seem popular for fantasy cultures and  lists of books that differ from this trend, maybe articles about the hard times of authors and how they pulled through, if genre labels hinder marketing rather than help it…
     
    Blessings,
    Literaturelady

  6. Becky says:

    I think one thing Christian spec fic authors can do is just write excellent stories. Learn the craft before attempting to publish a book. Study the greats, secular and Christian. Being an avid reader is good, but writers also have to know how to write! Quality stories will draw people from all genres.

  7. Zac Totah says:

    I really like those topic suggestions, Literaturelady.

What do you think?