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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.
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So Many Good Writers, So Many Good Books

I thought perhaps today we could add to those resources by sharing information about books and/or authors we like that may be flying under the radar, and others need to know what we know.
Rebecca LuElla Miller on Jan 15, 2018
14 comments

Writing fiction, and getting your books in print (or on a digital device), has become unimaginably easier than in years past. Of course, completing a book, and making it available to the public still does not insure that people other than your family and close friends will actually read your book. We here at Spec Faith want to promote speculative stories written by Christians, particularly those written from a Christian worldview.

I realize what I just said is somewhat controversial because there are some who say a Christian will, of necessity, write from a Christian worldview, and that’s something I’d like to explore at a later date. For now I’m interested in highlighting some of the stories you may not already know.

First, let me mention that our Friday guests or the excerpts posted in our Friday Fiction articles hopefully are advancing the cause of informing our visitors about new books and authors they haven’t yet read. And of course we have the Spec Faith library that is a good resource for those looking for new novels to read.

But I thought perhaps today we could add to those resources by sharing information about books and/or authors we like that may be flying under the radar, and others need to know what we know.

I’ll go first.

My author is K. M. Weiland.

Some while ago, one of my writing groups spent some time discussing one of Weiland’s writing books. We all think she’s an excellent teacher and gives helpful illustrations, but as it turned out, I was the only one in our group who had read one of her novels.

Here’s what she says on her website about why she writes:

Stories are like breathing. Life without a story in my head is one-dimensional, stagnant, vapid. I love the life God has given me, but I think I love it better because I’m able to live out so many other lives on the page. I’m more content to be who I am because I’m not trapped in that identity. When I sit down at my computer and put my fingers on the keys, I can be anyone or anything, at any time in history. I write because it’s freedom.

Just today I “purchased” one of her novels for free as a Kindle ebook. According to Weiland’s newsletter, she’s currently working on the sequel, which she describes as a portal fantasy, to this book. The thing is, there’s more to the story than simply moving from one world to another. Here’s the description of Dreamlander:

What if it were possible to live two very different lives in two separate worlds? What if the dreams we awaken from are the fading memories of that second life? What if one day we woke up in the wrong world?

In this fantasy thriller, a woman on a black warhorse gallops through the mist in Chris Redston’s dreams every night. Every night, she begs him not to come to her. Every night, she aims her rifle at his head and fires. The last thing Chris expects—or wants—is for this nightmare to be real. But when he wakes up in the world of his dreams, he has to choose between the likelihood that he’s gone spectacularly bonkers or the possibility that he’s just been let in on the secret of the ages.

Only one person in a generation may cross the worlds. These chosen few are the Gifted, called from Earth into Lael to shape the epochs of history—and Chris is one of them. But before he figures that out, he accidentally endangers both worlds by resurrecting a vengeful prince intent on claiming the powers of the Gifted for himself. Together with a suspicious princess and a guilt-ridden Cherazii warrior, Chris must hurl himself into an action adventure battle to save a country from war, two worlds from annihilation, and himself from a dream come way too true.

Your turn! What books have you read or what authors have piqued your interest of late? Tell us what you liked, if you wish, and anything else you think book people will be interested in. Include links if you like.

You could even tell us about YOUR books, if you’d like. We want to know what’s out there that we may be missing.

Rebecca LuElla Miller
Best known for her aspirations as an epic fantasy author, Becky is the sole remaining founding member of Speculative Faith. Besides contributing weekly articles here, she blogs Monday through Friday at A Christian Worldview of Fiction. She works as a freelance writer and editor and posts writing tips as well as information about her editing services at Rewrite, Reword, Rework.
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  1. Ryan Ouellette says:
    January 15, 2018 at 3:22 pm

    RJ Larson’s Books of the Infinite and Realms of the Infinite are two spectacular series. All the characters are adults, although most of the main characters are young adults. These two series are my absolute favorites and I am working through re-reading them for the second time. I highly recommend them.

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      January 15, 2018 at 6:34 pm

      Thanks, Ryan. I didn’t realize she had two series. I’ve only read the first. Great to know. And I agree that her books are excellent.

      Becky

      Reply
  2. Toklaham Veruzia says:
    January 15, 2018 at 4:07 pm

    Rachel Starr Thomson’s Seventh World trilogy is a little-known, but well-written and strongly Christian fantasy series. The author is concise to the point of skipping over some parts of the story I wish she would have described in more detail, but I’ve read the series several times and highly recommend it.

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      January 15, 2018 at 6:32 pm

      Rachel IS a good writer. Thanks for adding her name to the mix. More readers do need to find her books.

      Becky

      Reply
  3. J.K. Miles says:
    January 15, 2018 at 4:40 pm

    If you want an intriguing Christian-infused post apocalypse from the last century. You can’t miss Walter Miller Jr. Canticle for Leibowitz.

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      January 15, 2018 at 6:30 pm

      I haven’t heard of that one before, J.K. Thanks!

      Becky

      Reply
  4. Randall Allen Dunn says:
    January 15, 2018 at 4:45 pm

    I don’t have anything recent (closest I have is the Divergent series, which was excellent), but I loved the pure entertainment of Rick Barry’s WWII escape thriller, Gunner’s Run. And also Oxygen, a SF Mars journey adventure by Randy Ingermanson and John B. Olson.

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      January 15, 2018 at 6:29 pm

      Randall, thanks for weighing in with you titles.

      If you like Oxygen, you might also like Paul Regnier’s Space Drifters series put out by Enclave Publishing.

      Becky

      Reply
  5. David says:
    January 15, 2018 at 11:42 pm

    N.D. Wilson has become one of my favorite authors. He wrote the 100 Cupboards trilogy and the Ashtown Burials trilogy (plus a newer series I don’t remember the name of at the moment). Great middle grade fantasy by a Christian author.
    I’d also highly recommend Andrew Peterson’s Wingfeather saga (also middle grade fantasy).

    Reply
    • Rebecca LuElla Miller says:
      January 17, 2018 at 6:02 pm

      Great suggestions, David.

      Reply
  6. Lauren Beauchamp says:
    January 16, 2018 at 4:56 pm

    If anyone hasn’t read Anne Elisabeth Stengl yet, her Goldstone Woof series is awesome!

    So sad that it is on hiatus now, and intensely curious about her new own name (which she won’t reveal).

    Reply
    • Lauren Beauchamp says:
      January 16, 2018 at 4:57 pm

      *pen name

      Reply
  7. audie says:
    January 20, 2018 at 8:40 pm

    Ok, I’ll do some self-promo, then.

    “Bramblewild” is about a halfling man who leaves home, travels the world with trading caravans, meets people who become his friends as well as his enemies, goes to strange and enchanting and even hostile places, and eventually finds the thing that had once been standing right in front of him.

    https://www.amazon.com/Bramblewild-Christian-Speculative-Fiction-Novel-ebook/dp/B075SWG8LG/ref=la_B00N5CEWDG_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1516498440&sr=1-3

    Reply
  8. Author Christopher D Schmitz says:
    February 10, 2018 at 10:30 am

    I write spec fic that is either overtly faith-based (my fantasy series) or that is more subtle (like my sci fi series or YA dimension hopper). All have had new books come out (or will) within the last or next 6 months.

    Reply

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