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No, Stories Should Not ‘Wreck You, the Reader’
Articles | Marian Jacobs on Mar 8, 2021

Nomad
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Mar 5, 2021

Legend of the Storm Sneezer
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Mar 5, 2021

53. How Can Christian Fans React When Fantasy Creators Get Cancelled? part 1
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Mar 2, 2021

My Novel ‘The Mermaid’s Sister’ Arose from True Depths of Mourning
Articles | Carrie Anne Noble on Mar 1, 2021

The Icarus Aftermath
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 26, 2021

My Screenwriter Mom Introduced Me to Fantastic Sci-Fi in the 1960s
Articles | Jason William Karpf on Feb 25, 2021

52. Do Christians Really Need Science Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 3
Podcast | Lorehaven on Feb 23, 2021

Join Our March 11 Livestream Exploring Christian Reactions to Fandom Cancel Culture
News | Lorehaven on Feb 22, 2021

The Hourglass and the Darkness
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 19, 2021

Venus is More Than Just a Love Goddess
Articles | Shannon Stewart on Feb 18, 2021

Introducing Fantasy Enthusiast and New Lorehaven Writer Shannon Stewart
News | Lorehaven on Feb 17, 2021

Stories with Bad Ideas Can Still Help Us Grow
Articles | L.G. McCary on Feb 15, 2021

Gretchen and the Bear
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 12, 2021

The Mandalorian is a Religious Fundamentalist, and Here’s Why That’s Awesome
Articles | Josiah DeGraaf on Feb 11, 2021

Introducing Fantasy Creator and New Lorehaven Writer Josiah DeGraaf
News | Lorehaven on Feb 10, 2021

51. Do Christians Really Need Fantasy? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 2
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Feb 9, 2021

The Death and Rebirth of Magic in Children’s Fantasy
Articles | R. J. Anderson on Feb 8, 2021

Torch
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Feb 5, 2021

Fictional Magic Systems Can Go Beyond Rules and Reveal Deeper Characters
Articles | Elijah David on Feb 4, 2021

How God Uses Story Villains for Our Good
Articles | Zackary Russell on Feb 3, 2021

Introducing Sci-Fi Creator and New Lorehaven Writer Zackary Russell
News | Lorehaven on Feb 2, 2021

50. Do Christians Really Need Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 1
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Feb 2, 2021

Frank E. Peretti to Give Keynote Address at Realm Makers Writers Conference This July
News | E. Stephen Burnett on Feb 1, 2021

Fugue for the Sacred Songbook: In Eb Minor
Reviews | Lorehaven Review Team on Jan 29, 2021

How A Year Without Superhero Films Rebooted Our Universe
Articles | Jason Joyner on Jan 28, 2021

New Book ‘Reading Evangelicals’ Will Focus on Famous Christian Fiction
News | E. Stephen Burnett on Jan 27, 2021

Introducing Superhero Novelist and New Lorehaven Writer Jason C. Joyner
News | Lorehaven on Jan 27, 2021

49. How Can We ‘Terraform’ the Church to Enjoy Fantastic Fiction?
Podcast | Fantastical Truth on Jan 26, 2021

Militant Secularism Could Force Christians to Create New Subcultures
Articles | Mike Duran on Jan 25, 2021

Library

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The Mermaid's Sister, Carrie Anne Noble
Etania's Worth, M. H. Elrich
Cinderella Spell, Laurie Lee
When Desperate Measures Are All You Have Left, J. C. Morrows
Fractures, James C. Joyner
Torch, R. J. Anderson
The Terran Summit, Anna Zogg
The Xerxes Factor, Anna Zogg
The Paradise Protocol, Anna Zogg
The Awakened, Richard Spillman
The Ascension, Richard Spillman
Love's Sacrifice, Kelsey Norman
Unbroken Spirit, Kelsey Norman
Seed: Judgment, Joshua David
Reviews

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Nomad
“R. J. Anderson’s fantasy Nomad is a rollicking read with fascinating conflicts and plot twists.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 5, 2021

Legend of the Storm Sneezer
“Teen readers fond of lengthy, lighthearted ghost-and-zombie tales will enjoy Legend of the Storm Sneezer by Kristiana Sfirlea.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 5, 2021

The Icarus Aftermath
“Arielle M. Bailey’s The Icarus Aftermath spins a golden yarn of vivid characters and gripping emotion, set in a world ripe for exploration.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 26, 2021

The Hourglass and the Darkness
“Kyle L. Elliott’s novel The Hourglass and the Darkness posits a world before the great Flood, starting a promising series.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 19, 2021

Podcast

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53. How Can Christian Fans React When Fantasy Creators Get Cancelled? part 1
Fantastical Truth, Mar 2, 2021

52. Do Christians Really Need Science Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 3
Fantastical Truth, Feb 23, 2021

51. Do Christians Really Need Fantasy? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 2
Fantastical Truth, Feb 9, 2021

50. Do Christians Really Need Fiction? | Fiction’s Chief End, part 1
Fantastical Truth, Feb 2, 2021

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SpecFaith

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

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The Fantastical Elements of Romantic Fiction, part 2
Parker J. Cole, Mar 4

Settling the Solar System in Science Fiction, part 3: the Moon
Travis Perry, Feb 24

The Fantastical Elements of Romantic Fiction, part 1
Parker J. Cole, Feb 17

Settling the Solar System in Science Fiction, part 2: Venus
Travis Perry, Feb 11

Beyond

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Explore the book The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ

Does ‘Engaging Popular Culture’ Include Right-Wing Talk Radio?
E. Stephen Burnett, Oct 9

Join My Livestream This Thursday: Seven Ways to Find Truth in Fantastic Stories
E. Stephen Burnett, Oct 6

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How Does #ReleaseTheSnyderCut Reveal Fandom’s Grace and Idolatry?

On the Pop Culture Coram Deo podcast, E. Stephen Burnett suggests we reboot our expectations of what stories are meant to do.
E. Stephen Burnett on Jan 14, 2020 | No comments

I’ve returned to the Pop Culture Coram Deo podcast to talk about the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut fandom with Jeff Wright.

Good news: Jeff joins me on this quest to get director Zack Snyder’s original, complete, three-hour epic Justice League film released.

Bad news: He disagrees with me and believes Snyder’s challenges of Superman and Batman make their characters “irredeemable.”

Oh noes! Fans, even DC fans, disagree on a particular film. That means we must bite and devour one another on the social medias, yes?

Of course, in this case, no. Jeff and I want to disagree graciously, as disagreeing fans should. And in fact, a big part of this episode explores the nature of fandoms like these: their “stories,” worldbuilding, graces, idols, and solutions in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

‘Reboot the whole universe of expectations we have of stories’

Here’s one favorite moment. After I described the “worldbuilding” of the Snyder Cut fandom, including its flaws, Jeff asked me this:

So let me ask you. Just out of all that stuff you have raised . . . if you could change any of it, Twitter herd mentality, binary response to art, is there something you would just flip the switch and say, Things are going to be different in this way?

I replied:

I know exactly what I would change . . .

I would change our very expectation for what a story is supposed to do. I would take us back to the Bible’s portrayal of human culture and what that is for, going back to that first chapter of Genesis where God tells people to be fruitful and multiply, start families, fill the earth, steward the resources.

And then implicit in that command and explicit in later content of the Bible is that command to make culture. Which includes stories. Which would include technology. Put them both together, you get popular culture: mass media distribution, movies, radio, songs, computers, internet.

I would go back to the very beginning and reboot the whole universe of expectations we have of stories: superhero, fantasy, and otherwise, so that we at least have a better chance of appreciating what stories are for, and keeping them in perspective.

They’re gifts that God has given us, to be able to make these stories. They’re therefore going to be subject to the idols that we have and the graces that we have—those parts that God has put in the universe, versus the distortions that people come up with. And that also means that all of that is going to get into any story. Some more than others. But it’s also going to get the fandoms, the stories that we tell each other, that we create on our own, surrounding the stories.

I think if we were to reboot our perception of the whole thing, then we could probably avoid seeing stories as either “yes or no,” absolute good/absolute bad, thumbs up/thumbs down, or the nastiness that fans have if they’re for or against The Last Jedi or for or against The Rise of Skywalker. . . .

To spread it beyond the Snyder Cut or Justice League fandom: this happens with a lot of fandoms, particularly when the story choices that the creators make are not pleasing to everybody. Or if they’re perceived as subverting the old stories. . . .

Listen to the whole podcast at Pop Culture Coram Deo.

And watch this space for another podcast-related update, coming very soon.

E. Stephen Burnett

E. Stephen Burnett creates sci-fi and fantasy as well as nonfiction, such as The Pop Culture Parent: Helping Kids Engage Their World for Christ (coauthored with Ted Turnau and Jared Moore, from New Growth Press). Stephen explores biblical truth and fantastic stories as publisher of Lorehaven.com and cohost of the Fantastical Truth podcast. He and his wife, Lacy, live in the Austin area, help with foster parenting, and serve as members of Southern Hills Baptist Church.

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