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Wars And Warriors

Certainly thanking those who served in the military is appropriate as is commemorating those who died. And what better way than to think about wars and warriors in speculative fiction. After all, there are plenty of them. Fantasy is filled with armed conflict–good fighting evil. Science fiction isn’t short on military engagement either, Avatar being a prime example. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Fine Line Between Reality and Fantasy

When I started writing my recently released young adult novel, Fathom, I knew there would be otherworldly creatures involved and that they would play a big part in the story. However, I always felt that at its heart, Fathom was a contemporary story · Merrie Destefano

The Success Of Fantasy By The Masters

According to Dr. Drout, Tolkien, and I would argue Lewis, created a bridge for contemporary readers to step into the realm of the fantastic. These writers tied their magical, mystical worlds to the world readers knew and recognized. Interestingly, they did so in vastly different ways. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Anonymizing Novel Reviews

Would Christian speculative novel reviews be more useful, even honest, if they were written anonymously? And at least for some novels, would you prefer writing reviews anonymously? · E. Stephen Burnett

Ministered To By The Secular Market

Novelist Alton Gansky: When I rattled off my favorite novelists during an interview, I wondered: why didn’t I have a longer list of Christian authors? This demanded some inner noodling. So noodle I did. · Alton Gansky

Reading Is Worship 7: More Than A Story

Do you suspect that claiming a story must have higher “purpose” somehow cheapens its quality? Or do you agree this actually makes stories more truthful and beautiful? · E. Stephen Burnett

Fall Writer Challenge Finalists

In no special order, the finalist entries are re-posted below. After reading (or reviewing) them, vote in the poll to determine who will win this year’s Fall Writer Challenge. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Now It’s The Readers’ Turn

This early stage is to determine the top three entries which will be included in next week’s poll, so visitors may hit the thumbs-up button on as many of the entries as they wish. You might ask yourself if you’d like to keep reading. If yes, then that entry might deserve a thumbs up. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

‘The Hobbit’ Story Group 1: An Unexpected Party

One great way to explore “The Hobbit” is by reading it yourself. Yet if reading stories is worship, we should also read and discuss this classic together. · E. Stephen Burnett

Stories Of Sacrifice

I think there’s something to the idea that self-sacrifice is appealing. C. S. Lewis was particularly good at weaving self-sacrifice into his stories. It, of course, is crucial in the (traditional) opening book of Narnia–The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Lewis and Literature In The Library

Work continues to collect all published, Christian speculative stories in one place — the Speculative Faith Library. This effort also helps reveal a few things about the Christian-spec story field and classic authors that you may not know. · E. Stephen Burnett

Why Aren’t Adults More Inclined To Read Fantasy?

George MacDonald, a contemporary and friend of Lewis Carroll and Mark Twain, wrote fairy tales not only for children, but also for adults, and surprisingly, from our 21st century context, his work sold in the thousands of copies throughout Europe and also here in the U.S. · Dean Hardy

Beyond Inklings Imitations 2: Stories We May Have Missed

Most of us have read C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and newer Christian speculative novels. But what authors and classics might we have missed? · A. T. Ross

Reviewing Speculative Faith Reviews

Writing more blog entries lamenting the lack of good Christian sci-fi and fantasy novels doesn’t correct this problem. Instead, read Christian SF novels and write reviews. Not just for The Cause, but to help others worship God. · E. Stephen Burnett

The Appeal Of Fantasy For Young Adults

Of all the unexpected things in contemporary literature, this is among the oddest: that kids have an inordinate appetite for very long, very tricky, very strange books about places that don’t exist, fights that never happened, all set against the sort of medieval background that Mark Twain thought he had discredited with “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.” (excerpt from “The Dragon’s Egg”) · Rebecca LuElla Miller

News And Your Views

A smattering of this and that today. An update on our First Ever Spec Faith Writing Challenge, then news for For fantasy lovers. Finally, your views, in two parts. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Reading, Ratings, And Parental Guidance

Rating systems deliver the job of discernment into the hands of someone removed from the consumer. Movie ratings are often used as an example of what works when it comes to a quick and easy assessment of stories. However, I doubt seriously if any person Hollywood charges to rate a movie does so based on a Christian worldview. · Rebecca LuElla Miller

The Point And Purpose Of Reading Fiction

We frequently discuss whether or not we should expose ourselves to “gritty” stories about the garbage dump of life. Must we wallow in the mud, or can we choose instead to read stories that evoke truth and beauty? A tangential issue that might help with that question is this: are truthful stories beautiful (artistic) simply because of their truth? · Rebecca LuElla Miller

Content To Be A Niche

Do we as readers value Christian speculative fiction to the point of seeing it as a treasure? What if there were no more Christian speculative fiction tomorrow? No self-published e-books, no more POD Marcher Lord Press paperbacks, not any from Splashdown Books either, and none on the shelves of Christian or general market stores. · Rebecca LuElla Miller
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