New!
Author resources • Lorehaven Guild
Podcast sponsors • Subscribe for free
Crew manifest Faith statement FAQs
All author resources Lorehaven Guild Subscribe for free

Exile
Reviews, Mar 17, 2023

153. When Can Deconstructionism Threaten Christian Fiction? | with Michael Young aka ‘Wokal Distance’
Fantastical Truth Podcast, Mar 14, 2023

Enclave, Lorehaven, Fayette Join Forces for Austin Homeschool Conference
News, Mar 13, 2023

Library

Find fantastical Christian novels

fantasy · sci-fi · and beyond
middle grade · young adult · grown-ups
All novels Search Add a novel
Enhanced, Candace Kade
Bear Knight, James R. Hannibal
The Wayward, Tabitha Caplinger
Fortified, V. Romas Burton
Canaan Sleeps, Daniel Camomile
Silver Bounty, Victoria McCombs
A Sword for the Immerland King, F. W. Faller
Calor, J. J. Fisher
Once Upon A Ren Faire, A. C. Castillo
The Genesis 6 Project, Michael Ferguson
Exile, Loren G. Warnemuende
Aberration, Cathy McCrumb
The Truth Beyond the Lies, Kathleen Bird
Frost, Winter's Lonely Guardian, E. E. Rawls
Podcast

Get the Fantastical Truth podcast

Podcast sponsors | Subscribe links
Archives Feedback

153. When Can Deconstructionism Threaten Christian Fiction? | with Michael Young aka ‘Wokal Distance’
Fantastical Truth, Mar 14, 2023

152. How Can Christian Fantasy Fans Heal from Church Trauma? | with Marian Jacobs and L. G. McCary
Fantastical Truth, Mar 7, 2023

151. How Can Fantastical Satire Sharpen Our Theology? | The Pilgrim’s Progress Reloaded with David Umstattd
Fantastical Truth, Feb 28, 2023

150. Is the U.S. Government Covering Up Spy Balloons or Alien Spaceships? | with James R. Hannibal
Fantastical Truth, Feb 21, 2023

149. Why Do Christian Fiction Fans Love So Much Romance?
Fantastical Truth, Feb 14, 2023

148. Why Do Some Christians Revile ‘The Chosen’? | with Josiah DeGraaf and Jenneth Dyck
Fantastical Truth, Feb 7, 2023

Quests

Join our monthly digital book quests.

Lorehaven Guild Faith statement FAQs

War in Heaven
Book Quests, March 2023

Rose Petals and Snowflakes
Book Quests, February 2023

Prince Caspian
Book Quests, January 2023

Dream of Kings
Book Quests, December 2022

Reviews

Find fantastical Christian reviews

All reviews Request review

Exile
“This gentle fantasy from Loren G. Warnemuende shows little magic or strange creatures, focusing on complex emotions and relationships.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 17, 2023

Illusion
“Frank Peretti’s last novel creates a romantic world with sci-fi flourishes where likeable heroes, villain twists, and familiar places sell a dramatic performance.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 10, 2023

War in Heaven
“Charles Williams’s classic supernatural thriller pairs a deeply spiritual worldview with perceptive examinations of human nature.”
—Lorehaven on Mar 3, 2023

Bear Knight
“Bear Knight’s quest pacing starts slow but quickens as two plots merge into one, exploring the Christian’s spiritual walk with adventurous aplomb.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 24, 2023

Gifts

Find new gifts for Christian fans

Archives

The original SpecFaith: est. 2006

Speculative Faith | archives

Lorehaven issues (2018–2020)

Order back issues online!
New
Library
Podcast
Quests
Reviews
Gifts
Archives
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 /

Old Soldiers

Veterans Day, aka Armistice Day, has a particular resonance for me, since it’s also my birthday. It’s a sobering thing to discover, at a very young age, that you were born on a day that commemorates the ending of a war—and not just any war, but arguably the most horrendous war in human history.
Fred Warren on Nov 13, 2012
No comments

Veterans Day, aka Armistice Day, has a particular resonance for me, since it’s also my birthday. It’s a sobering thing to discover, at a very young age, that you were born on a day that commemorates the ending of a war—and not just any war, but arguably the most horrendous war in human history. I found that sense of perspective helpful in orienting myself in both history and in my relative significance to the larger universe.

Getting a day off from school didn’t hurt either.

We also take the opportunity to remember and honor the sacrifices of those who have served in our nation’s armed forces throughout its history to the present day. Living in a prosperous country whose shores have not been touched by war in a very long time, it’s easy to forget those who stand guard at lonely outposts, far from friends and family, putting their lives at risk daily to keep our land free and secure or to help others to do the same.  It’s easy to think of war as something that happens to somebody else—out of sight, out of mind.

It’s good to set a day aside to think about that a while.

Becky recently discussed war in the context of fantasy fiction, but I prefer science fiction in this case because it seems to grapple more directly with the topic of war itself. It not only speculates about how war might evolve but almost invariably speaks to the impact of war on the individual, and on how the lot of the soldier doesn’t really change very much, no matter how exotic the weapons, or the means of transportation, or the battlefield might become.  It also talks about what happens in war’s aftermath, and how warfare leaves an indelible imprint on soldiers that can make them misfits in the same society that sent them off to fight.

The idea of “duty” comes up a lot, the sense that we have a responsibility to take action when evil arises, that acting in defense not only of one’s home and hearth, but often in aid of strangers in peril next door, halfway around the world, or perhaps even across the galaxy, is somehow essential for those who would call themselves human beings…or children of God. That sense of duty is something a military person learns early in their career, and it begins with a commitment to the people beside you, fighting on your left and right. If you take that training to heart, it never leaves you, even when you’re out of uniform and spending your golden years dozing in front of the television in a rocking chair. Ask any veteran.

Here’s an illustration from one of my favorite writers of military-flavored science fiction, Keith Laumer. It’s a tale of two forgotten veterans who never forgot their duty: “The Last Command.”  Read the preface by David Drake and the afterword by Eric Flint, too.

Fred Warren
Fred was born in Tacoma, Washington, but spent most of his formative years in California, where his parents pastored a couple of small churches. He graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1983, and spent 24 years in the Air Force as a bomber navigator, flight-test navigator, and military educator. He retired from the Air Force in 2007, and now works as a government contractor in eastern Kansas, providing computer simulation support for Army training.Fred has been married for 25 years to the girl who should have been his high school sweetheart, and has three kids, three dogs, and a mortgage. When he's not writing or reading, he enjoys running, hiking, birdwatching, stargazing, and playing around with computers.Writing has always been a big part of his life, but he kept it mostly private until a few years ago, when it occurred to him that if he was ever going to get published, he needed to get serious about it. Since then, he's written more than twenty short stories that have been published in a variety of print and online magazines, and a novel, The Muse, that debuted in November 2009 from Splashdown Books, which was a finalist for the 2010 American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award for book of the year in the speculative genre. Speculative fiction is his first love, but he writes the occasional bit of non-fiction or poetry, just to keep things interesting.
Website ·
  1. Bethany A. Jennings says:
    November 13, 2012 at 8:58 pm

    Great thoughts, Fred!

    My favorite war-centered science-fiction is Battlestar Galactica.  I felt like the show did a good job of portraying the huge responsibility of military command, and the hard choices soldiers have to make.

    Reply
  2. Fred Warren says:
    November 14, 2012 at 10:34 am

    I also enjoy David Weber’s Honor Harrington series (the first two, On Basilisk Station and The Honor of the Queen, are free for e-reading on the Baen Books website), and Joe Haldeman’s classic, The Forever War.

    Reply
  3. Timothy Stone says:
    November 14, 2012 at 10:17 pm

    I loved Battlestar Galactica, Bethany, Ma’am. I thought it showed the strange dichotomy of folks who are sometimes do, indeed one may say often inevitably do, very sinful (and unhealthy) things on the one hand, yet will act absolutely pious, on the other hand. I can testify the above is true from my own (admittedly anecdotal, though statistics do support this) observations of others, not to mention my own behavior. I’ve heard some people call the characters hypocrites. Indeed, they are hypocrites. That’s the point, you deal with war in all sorts of way, and you vacillate in your sinful nature between evil and repentance.
     
    Sir, I really liked the concept of the Honor Harrington series, especially since in what I’ve read (just the first two books so far) they make clear the reality that Star Trek refused to admit (though the above noted BSG admitted it from the start). That reality being that often the most capable and certainly most experienced in any military are the NCO’s. My only problem that has kept me from going on farther onto book three was that at the end of the second book, injuries aside, Harrington is veering dangerously close to Canon Sue territory. I don’t want my experience with the great characters to be ruined by seeing her become full-on Canon Sue.

    Reply
  4. Fred Warren says:
    November 15, 2012 at 12:13 pm

    My only problem that has kept me from going on farther onto book three was that at the end of the second book, injuries aside, Harrington is veering dangerously close to Canon Sue territory. I don’t want my experience with the great characters to be ruined by seeing her become full-on Canon Sue.

    Well, a Canon Sue is usually a fan-fiction pitfall in which the writer converts an established character from the source material into a self-surrogate, though it’s seen occasionally in professional fiction. Still, I don’t think Mr. Weber is writing Honor Harrington as a female fantasy version of himself.
    If you mean she’s beginning to seem a little too perfect with respect to the other characters, I suppose that’s possible, but she’s the heroine, after all. I’ll have to go back and look at the stories again, but I think Honor makes her share of missteps along the way, even as she wins out in the end.

    Reply
  5. D.M. Dutcher says:
    November 15, 2012 at 8:27 pm

    I think any series will have the risk of degenerating, Timothy. There’s not much to do except ride with it until the worrying trends you see are proven or dispelled. That makes me hesitant to get involved with the big, 7+ volume franchises though. 

    Reply
  6. Timothy Stone says:
    November 16, 2012 at 12:11 am

    Yes, Sir. That “a little too perfect” is exactly what I mean. I saw before someone differentiate a character that is a “Canon Sue (or Stu for the male versions) as different from the “Mary Sue/Marty Stu” as being a story that is part of the official storyline or canon of the work, but has too many “Sue-ish” traits. Sorry for the confusion, Sir. I do like the story, but I am antsy about seeing the quality go down. That and the second book was a rehash in some ways of the first, plot-wise. I want some variety.
     
    Didn’t write my whole sentence in my initial comment. I mean my personal experience and observations of others from my time in Iraq in the Army.
     
    I wasn’t quite fair to Star Trek. Most of the series avoided mentioning Enlisted/NCO’s, or downplayed them, except for DS9, which did a terrific time with them via Chief O’Brien, Rom, etc.

    Reply
    • Fred Warren says:
      November 16, 2012 at 2:18 pm

      Timothy,

      I know what you mean. I find a series that runs longer than two or three installments begins to wear out its welcome with me. There are exceptions, but I’m not usually one of those desperately wishing an author “would write just one more story about XYZ.”

      It’s interesting that military-flavored science fiction television and movies do seem to focus more on the officer corps (novels do a better job), while historical dramas pay more attention to the enlisted.

      As the NCOs are wont to say, “You don’t have to call me ‘sir.’ I work for a living.” 🙂

      And thank you for your service!

      Fred

      Reply

What do you think? Cancel reply

  • When Science Fiction Meets Fairy TaleWhen Science Fiction Meets Fairy Tale
  • The Worldview Of Science FictionThe Worldview Of Science Fiction
  • Dystopian Cliche: Are The Arts Firing Literary Flare-Guns?Dystopian Cliche: Are The Arts Firing Literary Flare-Guns?
  • The Road Not TakenThe Road Not Taken
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.
Website · Facebook · Instagram · Twitter