1. Kaci says:

     

    What are you reading?
     
    I can’t read more than one novel at a time, but it’s not uncommon for me to crack open several non-fiction books at a time.  Currently, I’m working through book two of the Outlander series.  Next up will be the Mistborn Trilogy. I also have books I need to tackle for review: Temptation, The Judas Gospel (Bill Myers), Collision of Evil, and Collision of Lies.  It’s a bit of a toss-up. I also have a Liparulo, two Tim Downs, two Wayne Thomas Batsons, a Jonathon Rogers, two Bryan Davis books, 13th Demon, and a bunch more in the queue.

    In-progress non-fiction: The Illustrated Atlas of the Himalayas, The Bible for Blockheads, The Holman’s Illustrated Pocket Bible Handbook, The Power of Words. Next up….probably Early Judaism, the Ramayana, and the Book of Werewolves.

    What Christian speculative titles have you read in the last year or two?
    Oh, let me think: Wayne Thomas Batson, Bryan Davis, Amy Rose Davis, Sarah Witenhafer (and I hope I spelled that right), Merrie Destefano…and probably a couple others that currently escape me.
    In that regard, have you written a review of those books, either here at Spec Faith as a comment to the title in our library or for one of the online outlets such as Amazon, B&N, or Christianbooks.com?
    Merrie and Bryan both got reviews from me; I actually owe Sarah still – all on the Fiction Addict site.  On SpecFaith, I think I’ve mentioned easily a dozen authors, and as many speculative as not. I know I’ve mentioned Donita Paul, Karen Hancock, Tim Downs, Liparulo, Stephen Lawhead, Steven James, Tosca Lee, Ted Dekker, Eric Wilson, Sharon Hinck, and Eric Reinhold.
    That’s all offhand. I could sit here all day and keep adding names.
     
     

  2. Kessie says:

    I just won a copy of Reality’s Dawn by R.L. Copple in a blog giveaway, so I have that queued up. I also have Winter Rose by Rachel Marks, Crafting Novels and Short Stories from Reader’s Digest, and the hilarious Force of Habit from James Scott Bell (about the martial artist ex-actress vigilante nun).
     
    Also a bunch of George McDonald. Also Leviathan by Scott Westerfield, because I’m curious to see what a steampunk book is actually like. Also Dracula. Because it’s a great book.
     
    I’m trying to write reviews of the new books I do read. Classics, not so much. Everybody’s read those anyway. I even try to cross post them here, when it happens to be a Christian title.

  3. I could sit here all day and keep adding names.

    Kaci, that’s what dawned on me as I was formulating my list, and now as I read the authors you mention, I realize I left off even more than I was aware of earlier.

    Wow! Your list is impressive. I thought I had a stack of books to get through, but it pales in comparison.

    I didn’t use to be able to read more than one novel at a time because I considered myself a “gulper” — a reader that inhales a book. I am more inclined now to be a nibbler, though I will gulp the books that grab me and will not let me go. I’ve found fewer of those since I became a writer, but they are still out there.

    Anyway, I find my nibbling lets me read according to my mood, sort of like watching a particular TV show that strikes my fancy as opposed to another because at that moment I prefer light over dark or action over comedy. It’s a new reading experience and one I’m not sorry I’ve stumbled upon.

    Becky

    • Kaci says:

      My first answer got eaten, as the B&N internet timed out. Bug hum.
       
      Yeah….I kept buying before finishing the current stack.  I’ll get to it.

  4. Julius says:

     
    What are you reading?
    Just finished the first of the Dark Tower by Stephen King, and I think I’m moving on to Ivanhoe if nothing catches my eye… I check the Christian section…er, I mean, the bonnet section, to see if anything new that I haven’t read is there… but nothing really calls out to me. Except the new Ted Dekker book that’s the sequel to Forbidden, and they sorta don’t have it.

     
    What Christian speculative titles have you read in the last year or two?
    Hm… It is sort of difficult to *find* much without having to wander the internets. Lots of Bryan Davis (Last of the Nephilim, Enoch’s Ghost, Song of the Ovulum), some Dekker (Green, Red, Black, White, Sinner, Saint, Forbidden) and Lawhead (The Paradise War books, and Skin Map) and The Sword By… Litfin? I forget his name.  Summa Elvetica is sitting on my desk, but I haven’t read it yet.

     
    In that regard, have you written a review of those books, either here at Spec Faith as a comment to the title in our library or for one of the online outlets such as Amazon, B&N, or Christianbooks.com?


    Nope! I never really though about it. Christianbooks.com? That’s a thing? Now that I know it exists… I might.

  5. Kessie, I think cross posting reviews is a great idea. The audience at different venues won’t be the same. The people I connect with at Goodreads, for example, aren’t the same that follow my blog or read my Spec Faith posts. And of course posting at Amazon and the like can reach an untold number of people who have never heard of me. That’s why I think posting reviews is one of the best ways we can “get the word out.”

    Becky

  6. What fun!
    Oh boy, I’ve read a ton. In fact, ever since my husband gave me a kindle a year ago, I read at least a book a week (I read 5 books in one week the last week of March, been a while since I did that ;).
    I just finished Kathy Tyer’s Firebird Triology. Good stuff. Reminded me of the older and better (IMHO) Star Wars stuff. I have also read I am Ocilla,, Heartless, Waterfall, and The Windrider Saga. 
    I review about half the time. Book reviews intimidate me (weird, huh?) so if I love you a lot, I give you a review (and blog time). Otherwise, I mainly do word of mouth, facebook, and just star ratings.
     

  7. Bainespal says:

    What are you reading?

    As of this moment, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  I’ve also been reading a lot of interactive fiction works these past weeks.  It bears mentioning that I usually treat Christian fiction exactly the same as secular fiction for my reading purposes.  Daughter of Light will probably be next on my list of stuff to read, but I also want to read The Face of the Deep by Steve Rzasa, as well as Brandon Sanderson and George R.R. Martin.

    What Christian speculative titles have you read in the last year or two?

    The Dark Man by Marc Schooley
    Summa Elvetica by Theodore Beale
    Hero, Second Class by Mitchell Bonds
    By Darkness Hid and To Darkness Fled by Jill Williamson
    The first two Dragons in Our Midst books by Bryan Davis
    The two Windrider compilations by Rebecca Minor, Divine Summons and A Greater Strength
    The Earth Painter by Melissa Turner Lee

    I was reading From Darkness Won, but I stopped about a quarter of the way through to start reading the Harry Potter series.  I don’t necessarily like Harry Potter better; I just wanted to read it and get it under my belt as quickly as possible.

    In that regard, have you written a review of those books, either here at Spec Faith as a comment to the title in our library or for one of the online outlets such as Amazon, B&N, or Christianbooks.com?

    I started my own blog for this purpose.  I have reviewed Windrider and interviewed the author of The Earth Painter. 

  8. Bainespal says:

    I forgot to mention that I reviewed The Dark Man on Amazon.  That was before I started the blog.  I think my reviewing style isn’t so appropriate for Amazon, because I’m not really reviewing the book as a consumer experience.

  9. Aside from the classics like Tolkien and Lewis, I’m just discovering Christian speculative titles to read (mostly found through SpecFaith!), so these current reads are the first Christian specfic I’ve explored.  Yay!

    Currently reading:
    Oxygen by Randy Ingermanson and John Olson
    Firebird by Kathy Tyers

    Share method of choice:
    Currently word-of-mouth, but I will probably blog about books in the future. 

  10. Galadriel says:

    I read so many books, it’s hard to remember them all. And I tend to think in terms of school year, not calendar year, so that messes it up even more.  These are some of the newer ones that stand out in my mind

    Fiction
    Non-Christian
    Thursday Next & Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (the former is a GREAT meta-fictional narrative)
    Doctor Who novels
    Sherlock Holmes

    Christian
    Tales of Goldstone Wood
    Bryan Davis–various series

    Nonfiction
    Chesterton
    lots of stuff about ministry…

    Honestly,  I might come back here after I’ve recovered from finals week. Sometimes I post reviews, espeically with the blog-for-books ones, but if I blogged every book I read…

  11. Kerry says:

    First off…I love the collage.

    Second off, as the guy who has maintained the WhereTheMapEnds book list for the last couple years I can say that yeah, there’s alot of possibilities out there for the Christian speculative reader. Last I remember there were over 600 titles on that list, and by no means was that all.

    So get reading people! 🙂     

    • Kerry, thanks for the collage mention. That was fun to put together.

      Nice to know who the guy is that keeps the WTME list up to date. Big task! Stephen is the driving force behind the Spec Faith library. I think both serve different purposes, and as we incorporate more and more reviews, as is the plan, I think the library will take on an added dimension — not just informing readers of the titles available, but helping to sort out the ones that resonate with different readers.

      As it is, too many people settle for a book because they recognize the author’s name, whereas this Kerry Nietz person (as an example) they may never have heard of. The question is, how do we get readers to trust that books by Kerry Nietz are as good or better than name author’s books?  Seems to me a site where reviews go up, by trusted sources and by fans alike, will go a long way to help readers find what they’re looking for.

      Even these comments help, I think. Someone perusing these comments can hardly miss the repeated titles and authors. That gives them a starting place, then.

      Becky

      • Kerry Nietz says:

        Oh no, Becky, don’t think by my mention of the WhereTheMapEnds list that I was knocking or detracting from what is being done here. I think it is great! I agree reviews are an added value to people who are searching. I was just making the point that there is an astounding amount of stories out there for those that are looking. It amazes me that what is thought of as a niche has such a wealth of choices today. Lots of variety too. (And to be honest, I don’t yet know what place the WTME list has in the upcoming Marcher Lord site revamp, so it is good someone else is keeping a list!)

        I realized I forgot to add my personal list of speculative titles. I read across a wide spectrum of both secular and Christian books, fiction and non-fiction. I read what I’m interested in, I read what people loan me, and I read what I’m given to review. (I’m a vine reviewer on Amazon now, so that factors into the equation as well.) I keep a list on both goodreads and shelfari of everything I’ve read for the last couple years. I nearly always write a review.

        Here’s my list of purely Christian speculative over the last year and a half, though:

        Winterland  by Mike Duran
        Restorer by Sharon Hinck
        One Step Away by Eric Wilson
        Seer by Fred Warren
        Oxygen by Olson and Ingermanson
        The Man Who Was Tuesday by Chesterson
        Wind and Shadow by Kathy Tyers
        Firebird Trilogy by Kathy Tyers
        Demon by Tosca Lee
        From Darkness Won by Jill Williamson
        The End is Now by Rob Stennett      

  12. Steve Rzasa says:

    I finished Failstate by John Otte and Daughter of Light by Morgan Busse, as well as Wind and Shadow by Kathy Tyers (go, MLP!) Currently re-reading The Dark Foundations of Chris Walley’s Lamb Among the Stars Trilogy, which is the best Christian sci-fi series out there in my opinion. I gave up on a mainstream read, Carte Blanche, the 007 novel by Jeffrey Deaver. Boring, sorry to say.

    But Kerry’s right–check out that WhereTheMapEnds booklist for awesome stuff!   

  13. Christian spec fic in the last two years: 

    The Charlatan’s Boy, by Jonathan Rogers
    Replication, by Jill Williamson
    Daughter of Light, by Morgan Busse
    Solitary, Travis Thrasher 

    I’ve reviewed the first two on my blog. Will review the next two as soon as I can get around to it. I only have one of those reviewed at Amazon. I’m trying to get in the habit of putting reviews up on Amazon. I really don’t like putting up Amazon reviews, because I hate giving stars. But I know authors need those reviews. 

  14. Wow. this could take a while – ready? 😉

    Reading now: König’s Fire (Marc Schooley), and my TBR pile includes Jeremy Robinson’s Threshold and Instinct, Meredith Efken’s Lucky Baby, Kathy Tyers’ Wind and Shadow and Karina Fabian’s Live and Let Fly. Oh and H20 by Austin Boyd and Brannon Hollingworth.

    Read recently: Beneath and Pulse – Jeremy Robinson;  The Enclave – Karen Hancock; Ingathering – Zenna Henderson (a re-read, but always worth it); The Mirror of N’de – L.K. Malone; Noah Primeval – Brian Godawa; Replication – Jill Williamson; The Opposite of Art – Athol Dickson; The Unraveling of Wentwater – C.S. Lakin; and probably a few more.

    Read in the last year or so (just  a smattering, or we’d really be here all night!): everything by Kerry Nietz and Jeffrey Overstreet; Waymaker – Michael D. Warden; The Strange Man – Greg Mitchell; Phantastes – George McDonald; The Resurrection and Winterland – Mike Duran; Oxygen (re-read) and Double Vision – Randy Ingermanson; Rooms and Book of Days – Jim Rubart; Afterlife – Merrie Destefano; all C.S. Lakin’s fantasies; While the Morning Stars Sing – ResAliens Anthology; War of Attrition – Frank Creed; and I am certain there are more. As well as the 10 or so that I’ve published in that time, of course, and at least 80,000 words of Avenir Eclectia stories 😛

     Most I review (Amazon/blog/TitleTrakk), and believe me I make a fuss when I find one I like!

  15. In the past year or so, the majority of the Christian SF I read was CSFF blog tour books. One novel – The Book of Names – I read because its sequel was the next book to be featured in the tour.
     
    I also discovered the Wingfeather Saga last summer; that the third Wingfeather book was toured directly afterward was an uncommonly happy coincidence. And I began the Saga because I had won North! Or Be Eaten in a book drawing. Oh, I had heard of On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness before, but I was not interested. When even the title needs a content editor, I have low hopes for the book.
     
    I recently finished Enemies of the Cross, by Greg Mitchell – the sequel to a novel CSFF toured a year ago. Last December I read At the Back of the North Wind, because I had finally decided to try George MacDonald out and, being charmed by some fairy tales he wrote, moved on to a book. I also read Worlds Unseen, by Rachel Starr Thomson, after being invited to review it.
     
    A couple months ago I read The Napoleon of Notting Hill, because it was in a collection of Chesterton novels I had bought a year previous. This book has not often been called Christian SF – certainly never by Chesterton – but I am justified in including it. Chesterton set it eighty years into the future from the year it was published (which was 1904 …). It then took  two time jumps, so that the end of the novel actually takes place in 2014. 
     
    I also read Ice, because I saw it in the library’s Christian fiction section, and then another book by the same author – A Form of Godliness.
     
    I believe that’s all. At any rate, it’s all I can recall at the moment.

  16. You thought On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness needed a copy editor? I can’t believe that. I thought the title was brilliant. 

    • I thought it was awkward. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness is clumsily long for a book title; worse, “Dark Sea of Darkness” is redundant in a very bad way. And, as a place-name, it’s ridiculous. If Tolkien had, say, called Gondor the White City of Whiteness, Lord of the Rings would have been a completely different story.
       
      I know now that the “Dark Sea of Darkness” was part of the humor that permeated the book – the often absurd, sometimes satirical humor. But I didn’t understand that until I actually read the book. Well – began to read the book. The realization hit me on the first page.

  17. What are you reading?
    Currently reading Dragon’s Tooth by N.D. Wilson. I thought I had heard somewhere that it was Speculative Christian. Definitely speculative, but like so much speculative I’m not sure why there is any distinction between “Christian” and “Secular” unless the author really wants to limit their readership to only Christians. I don’t see writers of any other faith putting their faith label on their works. 
     
    What Christian speculative titles have you read in the last year or two?
    I don’t pick books based on the professed faith of the author. I seek out well written good stories that are recommended to me by others. As with the N.D. Wilson book, any number of the books I’ve read could have been written by Christians or not and I wouldn’t know the difference. Of the books I’ve read in the past 2 years these are the ones that I’m pretty sure the author was Christian: The Chronicles of Narnia, Out of the Silent Planet,  The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic, The Charlatan’s Boy, The Hobbit, Fellowship of the Ring, The Princess & The GoblinHairy Potter (yes, I’m just reading most of these in the past year or two- I’m a late reader), & Divergent. All of these were either categorized as Christian, or I have read statements of faith by the author… Other than the Narnia books with an overt representation of Jesus in the character of Aslan, I don’t understand why they need to be in a Christian category- and many of the ones I listed seem to be loved by the general population and not just Christians- even Narnia.

     In that regard, have you written a review of those books, either here at Spec Faith as a comment to the title in our library or for one of the online outlets such as Amazon, B&N, or Christianbooks.com?
    No. I don’t believe I’ve written reviews of any of these books. I do rate all the books I read and occasionally review books on GoodReads.com, but my reviews have tended to be reactive to my impression of the book when I finish it… and once it’s not so fresh I tend to realize I liked a book more than I thought I did. So, I think I want to come up with a system to be more objective in my reviewing- and possibly try to review from my somewhat unique perspective as a Christian who is a counselor for abused children and a writer. Maybe if I can find a happy consistency I’ll share my reviews across more of the web.

    • OH…I didn’t list books by Christian authors that were published in the general market. I’ve read several general market spec books by Christian authors in the last couple of years. 

      Do you like Dragon’s Tooth, Patrick? I loved it. What about Mount Majestic? Did you like it? I haven’t read it. 

      • The Mount Majestic story was a very fun read. I’d recommend it to anyone. My overly literate 8 year old ranks it as one of the best stories she’s ever read. Though I tend to like YA stories generally, it is not often a story so completely appropriate and entertaining to my daughter is also one of my favorite stories too.

        Dragon’s Tooth is… interesting. I’m a little over 1/2 way into the book, and I love the protagonists and some of the supporting characters… but the villains are seeming very cartoonish, and several characters just seem overly mean spirited. I am also really enjoying the creativity so far. Almost has the feel of an Indiana Jones version of Hogwarts.  I’ll let you know my final impression after I finish it. 

        • Yes, I would agree with the Indiana Jones/Hogwarts idea. I think I said it was Treasure Island meets Harry Potter. 

          Thanks for telling me about Mount Majestic. I’ll have to give it a shot. 

    • Patrick, while I certainly agree that we ought to be looking for books that are well written, I see some important distinctions in Christian fiction, though I wouldn’t create a divide as you did between Christian and secular. I think there is Christian and not Christian.

      I think the distinction is in the worldview of the author. It’s important because good fiction should not only tell a good story but should be truthful. An entertaining story, well-written, that is full of unrealistic characters would quickly be dismissed as bad fiction. It isn’t truthful. So too with the worldview of the story. If the premise is, There is no God, then how can it be considered good regardless of the quality of writing or the entertainment factor? That’s like saying a dirty joke is good because it’s funny.

      In that regard, Christians have a big advantage because we have a truthful view of the way the world works. But that brings up the whole definition of Christian fiction discussion. Are we talking about books written for Christians? In John Otte’s recent posts, he seems to espouse this position. You, on the other hand, seem to be treating the term as fiction written by Christians. Some people believe a work isn’t Christian fiction unless the gospel of Christ is proclaimed in some way. I take a different approach from all these and it goes back to worldview. I believe a work is Christian if it is purposefully infused with the Christian worldview — not subliminally, as some writers think happens naturally because of our condition as Christians. It needs to be purposeful.

      As I’ve said before, I know from personal experience that it is possible to write without any hint of my worldview coming through. Those pieces, then, are not rightfully called Christian. Rather, a writer needs to make some effort to communicate the Christian worldview, either overtly or symbolically, in depth or in part, for a work to be rightly called Christian.

      I think much disagreement about Christian fiction comes from these divergent definitions. If people think it is work written by Christians, then anything should be admissible. If it is work written to Christians, for Christians, then it is a much narrower category with stricter guidelines. If it is purposeful communication of our worldview, however, it can be written for other Christians or for non-Christians. It can have an overt message and a clear presentation of the gospel, or it can present the unique Christian understanding of truth through types or symbols. In other words, the latter understanding of Christian fiction is a broad, more inclusive category, much like a good many of the books you mentioned.

      Becky

  18. I’m really enjoying these lists of books, including the non-fiction titles or the books which aren’t Christian speculative.

    Until I began writing fantasy in earnest, I read widely. I undoubtedly had a longer list of books I’d read that were in other genres than in speculative fiction, though I wasn’t keeping track. In fact, I purposefully stopped reading fantasy for a time, because I didn’t want my story to be unduly (and subconsciously) influenced by other writers’ stories. At my first writing conference, I learned that wasn’t the correct approach, and I’ve been eager to read Christian speculative stories ever since.

    But wow! There is a lot out there now. I really am impressed with the growing list.

    Becky

  19. I’m currently reading Karina Fabian’s Live and Let Fly, a fantasy featuring Vern the Dragon and Sister Grace of the Faerie Catholic Church…. A very funny book and from a Christian (Catholic) worldview.
     

  20. […] Yesterday over at Spec Faith, I did a “What Are You Reading” post, in part asking what Christian speculative fiction readers had enjoyed this past year. […]

  21. I just finished Temptation by Travis Thrasher. I love those books.

    Right now I’m reading Bill Myers’ Forbidden Doors re-release. I bought all four of the 3-volume sets and I’m on the second book right now.  I recently read the Heart Reader of Franklin High by Terri Blackstock, which I’d classify as a YA with a supernatural thread. I also read Morgan Busse’s Daughter of Light. The Peculiars by Maureen McQuerry is a YA steampunk for the general market, though Maureen is a Christian and that comes though a bit in the book. I’ll be interested to see where she takes it in book two.

    Next on my list to read is The Bone House, the second Hunter Brown book, Angel Eyes, Patrick Carr’s A Cast of Stones, then The Seer by Fred Warren. Then on the the MLP backlist that I’m way behind on. I’m dying to read Kerry’s Freeheads and Steve Rzasa’s last two and  I’ve got the Firebird Trilogy on my bedside table. And I do believe that the middle grade Swipe and Spirit Fighter are on the way to my house. Yay!

    Thanks for putting my book in the picture, Becky! What is that book called Tolling? I can see the author’s name and I Googled it and tried Amazon and… nothing. The suspense is killing me! LOL

    Jill 

  22. Fred Warren says:

    Although marketing is obviously important to a book gaining wider readership, I think it’s important to note that patience is more important than ever. The advent of e-books has changed the whole “marketing blitz” paradigm, in which a book is quickly pulled from the shelves to die if nobody hears about it and sales aren’t immediate, brisk, and in large numbers—the public’s short attention span must be countered with ad saturation within a very brief window of opportunity.

    E-books, however, don’t have a shelf life, and many stories aren’t taking off until several years after their initial publication. It can take that long for momentum to accumulate. I think the true impact of the Christian Spec Fic Indie Revolution is yet to be realized.

    • Fred, I think you are right on. We need to be patient. I think also we need to remember that God has a much bigger plan for our books than we do. And that plan may not include massive sales, but reaching certain people He has been preparing for weeks, months, even years.

  23. Marion says:

    Becky,
    In the past couple years, I’ve read the Trophy Chase Trilogy by Polivka and the prequel, Beggars Moon.  Those were well-written and enjoyable to read.
    I have also read Lost Mission by Athol Dickson which was the best novels I’ve read in the past 5 years.  
    I read Mike Duran’s Resurrection and I thought it was a solid first novel.  Looking forward to reading his latest novel, The Telling.
    I wrote reviews on my blog for both Polivka’s series and Dickson’s Lost Mission.
    Also, I read S. by John Updike and found his take on spirituality interesting with an unlikeable protagonist.
    However, I have realized to do need to read more Christian Fiction and Christian Speculative Fiction as well since I have read mostly secular fiction.
    As a result, I bought Peretti’s This Present Darkness and Lisa Mckay’s My Hands Came Away Red this past weekend.
    I’m realizing I have to read more in this genre in order where it’s going and growing.
    Marion

What do you think?