Last week’s interview with Randy Ingermanson about Oxygen went into overtime.¹ That’s because we had to ask him about his most recent release: Son of Mary. It’s book 1 of his new four-book Crown of Thorns series.

Now in this special bonus episode, we ask Randy (who uses the initials R. S. for this new series) questions like these:

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• How did you begin writing your City of God series, including Transgression, Premonition, and Retribution?
• What kind of “gritty” content helps portray the rigors of first-century life?
• How long has your new Crown of Thorns series been in the making?
• How does biblical fiction work, exploring extra-biblical speculation?
• What occurs in the book, as Jesus’s messianic mission grows clear?

Click to explore more at Amazon.com.

Also on Fantastical Truth

• Episode 15: We explore Randy’s original foray into sci-fi with Oxygen, which follows a sabotaged mission to Mars.
• Episode 7: We explore how Jesus defines and redeems his gift of imagination, with biblical fiction author Brian Godawa.
• Episode 1: We review Patrick W. Carr’s The End of the Magi, which follows the wise men’s original quest to crown a king.
• Future episodes: We will explore the popular biblical fiction series The Chosen as well as Christians’ common challenges for biblical fiction.

Join our webcast at Realm Makers

This Thursday, May 14, 8 p.m. Eastern time, I’m hosting this live discussion spanning the two worlds of fictional stories and nonfiction reality. Let’s explore how our favorite fantastical stories can actually help bring us closer to our Hero, Jesus Christ, his gospel, and all biblical truth in the real world Jesus calls us to serve!

Next on Fantastical Truth

A virtual-reality enemy once said that humans are a virus. Lately we’ve heard similar statements during the pandemic. By contrast, some people (even a certain leader of the Catholic church!) has spoken about the earth in very personal terms. How should Christians view The Environment, and discern stories that want us to view creation in particular and even mystical ways?