About
articles • book quests • news • library
reviews • podcast • gifts • archives
Crew manifest Faith statement FAQs
All author resources Lorehaven Guild Subscribe for free

Shasta’s Meeting with Aslan in ‘The Horse and His Boy’ Helped Me Embrace God’s Sovereignty
Elijah David in Articles, Aug 5, 2022

100 Cupboards
Reviews, Aug 5, 2022

123. Which Fantastical Novels Won Big at the 2022 Realm Awards?
Fantastical Truth Podcast, Aug 2, 2022

Library

Find fantastical Christian novels

fantasy · sci-fi · and beyond
middle grade · young adult · grown-ups
All novels Search Add a novel
When Legends Rise, Daphne Self
The Withering, P. S. Patton
The Wonderland Trials, Sara Ella
Shadow of Honor, Ronie Kendig
Lost Bits, Kerry Nietz
Rats of Dweltford, Matt Barron
Vivid, Ashley Bustamante
The Godot Orange, Bruce Roberts
My Soul to Take, Bryan Davis
Into Shadow's Fire, Mark Castleberry
Deceived, Madisyn Carlin
Arena (2022 edition), Karen Hancock
Kurt Nickle-Dickle of Whiskers, N. J. McLagan
"In a city where debts are paid in blood, one young man will learn that everyone needs help sometimes if they want to survive." New in the Lorehaven library: A Matter of Blood, Lauren H Salisbury
Reviews

Find fantastical Christian reviews

All reviews Request review

100 Cupboards
“With thoughtful narrative voice and emotional honesty, N. D. Wilson’s 100 Cupboards (2007) opens doors to worlds of mystery and adventure.”
—Lorehaven on Aug 5, 2022

Blood Secrets
“Blood Secrets charts a satisfying conclusion to the Skyworld duology, with dashing prose that draws readers into this world of steam and mystery.”
—Lorehaven on Jul 22, 2022

Jabberwock’s Curse
“In Jabberwock’s Curse, R.V. Bowman blends different elements from Lewis Carroll’s classic into a quick-paced coming-of age story whose three heroes must learn who they were created to be.”
—Lorehaven on Jul 8, 2022

The Governess of Greenmere
“Obscure Arthurian and Celtic references blend with biblical imagery and high heroism in this brief yet old-souled story.”
—Lorehaven on Jul 1, 2022

Book Quests

Join our monthly digital book quests.

Lorehaven Guild Faith statement FAQs

100 Cupboards
Book Quests, July 2022

Phantastes
Book Quests, July 2022

Lost Bits
Book Quests, June 2022

Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney
Book Quests, May 2022

Podcast

Get the Fantastical Truth podcast

Podcast sponsors | Subscribe links
Archives Feedback

123. Which Fantastical Novels Won Big at the 2022 Realm Awards?
Fantastical Truth, Aug 2, 2022

122. Why Are More Fans Turning Against Their Favorite Franchises?
Fantastical Truth, Jul 29, 2022

121. Will Humans Colonize the Cosmos Before Jesus Returns?
Fantastical Truth, Jul 19, 2022

120. How Can Christians Enjoy Biblical Freedom in Fiction and Imagination?
Fantastical Truth, Jul 12, 2022

Gifts

Find new gifts for Christian fans

Browse back issues (2018–2020)

Order back issues online!

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

site archives | statement of faith
Articles Questions? Writers

Yes, Speculative Faith Is Closed, At Least For Now
E. Stephen Burnett, Dec 30

Last Stands, Custer, General Gordon, and Being a Christian Warrior
Travis Perry, Jul 2

How Christian Must Christian Fiction Be?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 24

Gender In Fiction: The Implication Of Failure
Rebecca LuElla Miller, May 10

Making a Story Visual UPDATE: Behind the Scenes of the Animal Eye Comic
Travis Perry, May 9

What Does “Woke” Culture Have To Do With Christian Fiction?
Rebecca LuElla Miller, Apr 26

About
Library
Reviews
Podcast
Gifts
Guild
Archives
SpecFaith
Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.
Subscribe free to Lorehaven
/ SpecFaith /

C. S. Lewis: Don’t Chase Fandom Thrills For Their Own Sake

C. S. Lewis: “Let the thrill go—let it die away … and you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time.”
E. Stephen Burnett on Jan 27, 2016
2 comments

Mere Christianity by C.S. LewisRecently I’ve been re-listening to C. S. Lewis’s classic nonfiction work Mere Christianity.

This book1 is the source of many Lewis quotes we see spread about Christian devotionals, articles and internet “memes.”2

But I am rediscovering — as I do each time I re-read great books — other bits of wisdom that Lewis shared, which aren’t quoted as often.

One bit of wisdom is about the art and purpose of marriage, in book 3, chapter 6, “Christian Marriage.” For example, C. S. Lewis, known for his love of fairy tales, is not too good to question a popular understanding of a fairy tale trope:

If the old fairytale ending “They lived happily ever after” is taken to mean “They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married,” then it says what probably never was nor ever could be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships?3

But it turns out Lewis’s advice about “falling in love” applies with equal force to fans of stories and “geek” fandoms. In fact, I think Lewis accidentally stumbled upon the cure to one tendency I keep seeing among fans.

Especially in internet comment sections, you will find those Charlie Bucket types who, in the words of Willy Wonka, are “just lucky to be here.” I find those comments delightfully refreshing; they are closer to the kind of fan I want to be, for the intentional glory of God. However, others fans are often seen, say, nitpicking cast choices or adaptations of Marvel or DC superhero movies, or trying to turn box office successes into competitions between franchises, or reacting to the announcements of cast members with lewd or rude remarks.

But the commonality between these behaviors seems to be this: They want to feel like they did when they were children, to have their nostalgia desires met. They want to recapture what they remember as a sense of “falling in love” with a story. They want to have those same old thrills.

Among Christian fans in particular, this behavior manifests in other ways. Some of us resort to nitpicking pastors, or denominations, or movements, because they don’t give us the same positive “thrills” we may recall when we first encountered saving faith, or when we were children. Among fantastical fans, we might also find ourselves dissatisfied with Christian-authored fantastical novels, not because they are poorly written (not all of them are), but because they don’t give us that “thrills” we desire — “thrills” we might recall other (perhaps secular) stories meeting more easily.

This is the very thing C. S. Lewis warns against chasing. Even more, he promises the best chance of “gaining” this thrill is by dying to the desire for it. In his words, we must replace that early infatuation with mature “sober interest.” Only then can we find, in a mature pursuit of Someone greater, not only the thrills reborn, but newer “thrills.”

He writes in Mere Christianity:4

In this department of life, as in every other, thrills come at the beginning and do not last. The sort of thrill a boy has at the first idea of flying will not go on when he has joined the [Royal Air Force] and is really learning to fly. The thrill you feel on first seeing some delightful place dies away when you really go to live there.

Does this mean it would be better not to learn to fly and not to live in the beautiful place? By no means. In both cases, if you go through with it, the dying away of the first thrill will be compensated for by a quieter and more lasting kind of interest.

What is more (and I can hardly find words to tell you how important I think this), it is just the people who are ready to submit to the loss of the thrill and settle down to the sober interest, who are then most likely to meet new thrills in some quite different direction. The man who has learned to fly and becomes a good pilot will suddenly discover music; the man who has settled down to live in the beauty spot will discover gardening.

This is, I think, one little part of what Christ meant by saying that a thing will not really live unless it first dies. It is simply no good trying to keep any thrill: that is the very worst thing you can do.

Let the thrill go—let it die away—go on through that period of death into the quieter interest and happiness that follow—and you will find you are living in a world of new thrills all the time.

But if you decide to make thrills your regular diet and try to prolong them artificially, they will all get weaker and weaker, and fewer and fewer, and you will be a bored, disillusioned old man for the rest of your life. It is because so few people understand this that you find many middle-aged men and women maundering about their lost youth, at the very age when new horizons ought to be appearing and new doors opening all round them. It is much better fun to learn to swim than to go on endlessly (and hopelessly) trying to get back the feeling you had when you first went paddling as a small boy.

What do you think of Lewis’s warning?

Have you seen fans who seem “bored, disillusioned … maundering”?

How can Christian fans of fantastical stories and “fandoms” apply this truth to their particular pursuits of “thrills”?

 

  1. It’s really a collection of three books based on Lewis’s broadcast talks, edited and combined into one book. ↩
  2. For example, “Aim for Heaven and you will get Earth ‘thrown in.’ Aim for Earth and you will get neither.” ↩
  3. This is likely the source of my wife’s and my occasional expression of gratitude that we don’t often feel as overtly “in love” as those whirlwind heady days of our early long-distance relationship. That time period was exhilarating, but also exhausting. Often I much prefer a night like the evening when I’m writing this, with the “normalcy,” even dullness, of regular life. ↩
  4. I have added a few extra paragraph breaks for readability. ↩
E. Stephen Burnett
E. Stephen Burnett creates sci-fi and fantasy novels as well as nonfiction, exploring fantastical stories for God’s glory as publisher of Lorehaven.com and cohost of the Fantastical Truth podcast. As the oldest of six, he enjoys connecting with his homeschool roots by speaking at conferences for Christian families and creators. Stephen is coauthor of The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ from New Growth Press (2020, with Ted Turnau and Dr. Jared Moore). Stephen and his wife, Lacy, live in the Austin area, where they help with foster parenting and serve as members of Southern Hills Baptist Church.
Website · Facebook · Instagram · Twitter
  1. Lelia Rose Foreman says:
    January 27, 2016 at 1:55 pm

    I hadn’t thought to apply that to fandom. Oh, okay, that makes sense.

    Reply
  2. Paul Lee says:
    January 27, 2016 at 5:39 pm

    Relating romantic infatuation to media nostalgia is a really good connection that I wouldn’t have seen, and then to relate it back again to the spiritual wandering experience is doubly sharp.

    Reply

What do you think? Cancel reply

  • On Giving Offense And Being OffensiveOn Giving Offense And Being Offensive
  • Dare, Tricia MingerinkThe Mirror Theory Of Speculative Fiction
  • Saruman the White (Sir Christopher Lee) from "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"Mayhem And Its Meaning, A Reprise
  • The Words Of C. S. LewisThe Words Of C. S. Lewis
Lorehaven magazine, spring 2020

Wear the wonder:
Get exclusive shirts and beyond

Listen to Lorehaven’s podcast

Authors and publishers:
Reach new fans with Lorehaven


Lorehaven helps Christian fans explore fantastical stories for Christ’s glory: fantasy, science fiction, and beyond. Articles, the library, reviews, podcasts, gifts, and the Lorehaven Guild community help fans discern and enjoy the best Christian-made fantastical stories, applying their meanings to the real world Jesus Christ calls us to serve. Subscribe free to get any updates you choose and to access the Lorehaven Guild.