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

119. Will Congress Disclose the UFOs Our Favorite Alien Stories Ask Us to Believe In? | with Colin Samul
Fantastical Truth Podcast, Jul 5, 2022

The Governess of Greenmere
Reviews, Jul 1, 2022

Phantastes
Book Quests, Jul 1, 2022

Library

Find fantastical Christian novels

fantasy · sci-fi · and beyond
middle grade · young adult · grown-ups
All novels Search Add a novel
Shadow of Honor, Ronie Kendig
Lost Bits, Kerry Nietz
Rats of Dweltford, Matt Barron
Vivid, Ashley Bustamante
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
Son of the Shield, Mary Schlegel
Maxine Justice, Galactic Attorney, Daniel Schwabauer
Mordizan, Alyssa Roat
Prentice Ash, Matt Barron
Reviews

Find fantastical Christian reviews

All reviews Request review

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

Tilly
“Written in 1986, Frank E. Peretti’s novelette Tilly may feel melodramatic to today’s readers, but remains a tearful tale of brokenness and redemption.”
—Lorehaven on Jun 24, 2022

The Wonderland Trials
“Although indebted to a classic, The Wonderland Trials is inventive and colorful in its own right, abundantly able to charm and to intrigue.”
—Lorehaven on Jun 24, 2022

Rise of the Earthborn
“Societal intrigue plus steampunk flair and a dash of romance help make Emma Buenen’s Rise of the Earthborn a solid extra-biblical adventure.”
—Lorehaven on Jun 17, 2022

Book Quests

Join quests in our digital book club

All book quests
Lorehaven Guild Faith statement FAQs

Phantastes
Book Quests, July 2022

Lost Bits
Book Quests, June 2022

Maxine Justice: Galactic Attorney
Book Quests, May 2022

The Green Ember
Book Quests, April 2022

Podcast

Get the Fantastical Truth podcast

Podcast sponsors | Subscribe links
Archives Feedback

119. Will Congress Disclose the UFOs Our Favorite Alien Stories Ask Us to Believe In? | with Colin Samul
Fantastical Truth, Jul 5, 2022

118. Which Fantastical Stories Help Us Celebrate Human Life?
Fantastical Truth, Jun 28, 2022

117. Why Should You Build a Fantastical Lending Library? | with L.G. McCary
Fantastical Truth, Jun 21, 2022

116. Why Do Homeschooled Students Love Fantastical Fiction? | with Ethan Nunn
Fantastical Truth, Jun 14, 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 /

Lorehaven Updates: New Podcast Episode ‘Goes Viral,’ Event Reboots, More Reviews!

We have a whole slew of updates about Lorehaven, this website, Realm Makers, and other events!
E. Stephen Burnett on May 19, 2020
1 comment

Did we release that Randy Ingermanson bonus just one week ago on Lorehaven’s podcast Fantastical Truth? Why yes. Yes, we did. Now just one week later, we have a whole slew of updates about Lorehaven, website upgrades, Realm Makers, and other events that go beyond our next Fantastical Truth.

1. Our new podcast episode ‘goes viral’: is humanity a virus?

At Fantastical Truth, my cohost and chief engineer Zackary Russell pitched this episode. Such a great discussion ensued.

https://media.blubrry.com/fantasticaltruth/p/content.blubrry.com/fantasticaltruth/FT016-Virus.mp3

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Here’s a clip from the show notes:

“The earth is healing; we are the virus.” Not long ago, that slogan itself went viral. Some made fun of it. A few took it seriously.

But under the slogan lies this faint suspicion: maybe humanity is bad somehow. Something is wrong with us. We don’t belong here.

How do Christians engage with this idea in our nonfiction and in fiction?

2. You may have seen some changes around here.

If our webmaster (hallo) did his job, this Speculative Faith blog and all of Lorehaven.com is now a bit easier on the eyes.

That’s mostly because of a few cosmetic changes.

Among these is the better alignment (in desktop view) of article content, so it doesn’t crash to the page’s right side.

Lorehaven, spring 20203. More reviews are arriving at Lorehaven.

We’ve done the math. Lorehaven magazine (free subscription here) has now released over 120 reviews since 2018.

That’s 120+ reviews of the best Christian fantasy: Christian-made, published, fantastical novels, anywhere we find them.

Last week, we began sharing those reviews with everyone.

You can find them with the newly restored ? REVIEWS tab at the top of this website.

Some new reviews will continue to be available only to free subscribers. However, with this many reviews—and especially now that we’re having advance reviews of new books!—we want to share them all where more readers can see them.

For the next few months, we will release one review a day!

For example, for this fantasy series conclusion that releases today:

The Story Hunter

Or this extended review of a space-opera classic:

Firebird

Or this extended review from the alternate universe when we actually did get to Mars by now:

Oxygen

Even better, book reviews automatically link to the complete book information. And vice-versa.

This will help readers even better in their quest to find their next favorite story. Of course, that will benefit authors too.

Learn more about the Lorehaven project by exploring the author resources page. That’s where you can learn how to get your book listed on the site, how to request a review, and how to sponsor an ad or longer review.

4. Events are slowly resuming, one way or another.

No doubt you’ve heard the Realm Makers conference for Christian fantasy writers is going virtual this year.

(RealmMakers.com has also gotten an even more significant upgrade for this year’s event, and it looks fantastic.)

This means:

  • Registration is cheaper (those who’ve already paid have options to share with others or direct it for next year’s event).
  • Virtual attendees will still be able to mingle, video-chat, text-chat, network, watch presentations, and share their stories.
  • More people can attend the event, including those who would not have been able to reach New Jersey even before the pandemic.

Get all this info and more direct from the source at RealmMakers.com.

For my part, of course Lorehaven will represent. I’ve been entrusted with some mentoring slots. And I may even pitch a fiction work or two.

However, I’m also planning to join the Florida Parent Educators Association conference.

That live, in-person homeschool conference now been rescheduled for July. There with the Realm Makers Bookstore (Lord willing!), I’ll speak on the theme of popular culture, what it’s for, and how Christian parents can train their kids to engage these stories and songs.

Next for live events: Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, in November? Again, Lord willing!

May our Creator indeed move to ensure these events can happen in these new dates, and with rational health and safety for all involved.

More updates shall be posted here as events warrant.

Godspeed,

Stephen

E. Stephen Burnett, signature

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. Autumn Grayson says:
    May 19, 2020 at 4:05 pm

    There ARE people that use these stories to put their guilt on other people, but not all of them do. Some actually will hate themselves, or admit that they do contribute to humanity’s carbon footprint. It isn’t necessarily that they expect everyone to stop keeping pets, driving cars, etc. But they do want people to do what they can to reduce the amount of resources they use. And from there they get extremely adamant and judgmental of anyone they think isn’t doing enough.

    I care about the earth and believe we should take care of it, but I can’t help but roll my eyes at what some really avid environmentalists say. Many act like humans are uniquely bad compared to other creatures, which isn’t true at all. Animals do all sorts of horrible things. The main difference between them and us is that we look at the ENTIRE world and care about it. We have the ability to consider the impact of our behavior and feel bad about it. So although we do cause problems, we feel guilty about that and often want to fix it for a variety of reasons. What people also forget/don’t realize or take into account is that there’s been multiple mass extinctions caused by other organisms. And most creatures try to survive and multiply as much as possible, which is why animals might be just fine in one environment but become invasive species when placed in another. Humans just tend to be better at adapting and multiplying more than other animals are. It’s not a matter of being more corrupt per se, just better adapted and more skilled. But it’s that very skill that can help us learn to become more responsible and less harmful.

    The question would also be whether the earth itself would care if it had any life on it, even if the planet was somehow sentient. Earth or even nature might not really care, considering how many species go extinct or come into existence on a regular basis. If anything, it’s more like the existing life and species would be upset at possibly dying out.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qERdL8uHSgI

    Yes, that video has an evolutionary perspective, but evolution’s a perspective that a lot of people take so it’s relevant to the discussion regardless. The earth didn’t get its ‘revenge’ on the creatures putting more oxygen into the atmosphere, things simply progressed according to a sense of cause and effect. Life adapted to live with oxygen instead and thus we have all the animals and plants that we say are worth protecting. I’m not saying that we need to be careless about the earth. We should avoid pollution, extinctions and overusing resources. But we should be reasonable and realistic in our perspectives while we’re at it.

    Reply

What do you think? Cancel reply

  • Join Our June 11 Livestream On How Authors Can Escape the 'Writing for Writers' Echo ChamberJoin Our June 11 Livestream On How Authors Can Escape the 'Writing for Writers' Echo Chamber
  • Mission Report, March 7–9, Lorehaven at Realm Makers BookstoreMission Report, March 7–9, Lorehaven at Realm Makers Bookstore
  • Guilt By Association?Guilt By Association?
  • Welcome to the World of Christian FantasyWelcome to the World of Christian Fantasy
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.