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148. Why Do Some Christians Revile ‘The Chosen’? | with Josiah DeGraaf and Jenneth Dyck
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Into the Darkness
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The Chosen Succeeds Where ‘Woke’ Stories Fail
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The Wayward, Tabitha Caplinger
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Calor, J. J. Fisher
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148. Why Do Some Christians Revile ‘The Chosen’? | with Josiah DeGraaf and Jenneth Dyck
Fantastical Truth, Feb 7, 2023

147. Why Can Christians Celebrate Stories about Merlin and King Arthur? | with Robert Treskillard
Fantastical Truth, Jan 31, 2023

146. How Did Animators Adapt The Wingfeather Saga For Streaming TV? | with Keith Lango
Fantastical Truth, Jan 24, 2023

145. How Did Edmund Spenser’s ‘The Faerie Queene’ Shape Christian Fantasy? | with Rebecca K. Reynolds
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144. Which Top Six Fantasy Franchises Gave Fans Grief in 2022?
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143. Which Top Ten Lorehaven Stories Proved Most Popular in 2022?
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Into the Darkness
“Charles Hack’s Into the Darkness summons a close-range science fiction story, focusing on the personal challenges of space warfare among alien cultures with a steady pace and serious tone.”
—Lorehaven on Feb 3, 2023

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“A Crown of Chains creatively retells a biblical tale to explore themes of providence, racism, faith, and fidelity.”
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Lander’s Legacy
“Lander’s Legacy stacks modern thrills and complex characters on a foundation of biblical what-ifs.”
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Prince Caspian
“Pacing starts slow but creature lore grows in C. S. Lewis’s sequel, introducing practical tyrants and talking-beast politics into a Narnian resistance.”
—Lorehaven on Jan 13, 2023

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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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‘Bid The Gods Arise’: An Allegory That Works

This epic fantasy avoids the common clichés of speculative Christian fiction, with allegory and faith integral to the story.
Allan Reini · Mar 14, 2014 · 13 comments

cover_bidthegodsariseTrue confession. Even as an author in the genre, I generally avoid “Christian” sci-fi and fantasy. The overabundance of message-heavy works, filled with awkward references, cheap conversion stories, and “God shows up, so everything is alright,” endings, is problematic. Precious few Christian sci-fi authors are successfully navigating a good solid story—staying true to a faith message without bludgeoning the reader into a catatonic gospel-state.

Robert Mullin is one of the exceptions to the rule.

Bid the Gods Arise is an epic fantasy, with enough sci-fi elements blended in to keep even space opera fans engaged. The story follows cousins Aric and Maurin, kidnapped from their home planet and thrust into a harsh world of slavery, hedonism, and quasi-supernatural civil war. The novel begins slowly—an absolute necessity for full appreciation of the action and character notes that will follow.

The intrigue begins in earnest following a short time jump and the introduction of the rest of Mullin’s cast of fascinating characters. Among them, Dania—the reluctant, but ferocious gladiatrix, Talauna—the broken, mute, innocent, and exotic Maolori girl, and one of my favorites, Valasand—warden of the gate, selfless warrior and leader. It should be noted that all three characters mentioned above are female. It is especially challenging for male writers to create authentic female characters. Many are simply clichés that tend to reveal massive gender ignorance on the part of the author. (see George R. R. Martin and Game of Thrones) Mullin avoids those pitfalls and introduces complete protagonists, both male and female, that we can root for as well as villains for us to hate. (And some to sympathize with—another difficult challenge that Mullin meets.)

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Like most high-quality fantasy/sci-fi works, it is larger than life, and does not shy away from conflict, violence, and tasteful sensuality.

Readers without a strong faith-based background need not worry about being ambushed by a clumsy or covert evangelical message. Bid the Gods Arise is an excellent fantasy novel, and as such it incorporates necessary supernatural elements. In the tradition of Lewis and Tolkien (the highest compliment we can pay, here) Mullin skillfully weaves the faith and supernatural emphasis of the characters and their journey into an experience that makes sense and is integral to the story itself, and not a distraction from it. Discerning readers will enjoy themes of deliverance, destiny, and above all, personal sacrifice—all of which take the characters on a journey of increasing intensity with a satisfying conclusion that left me hungry for more stories in this universe. Bring on the sequel!

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Allan Reini
An enthusiastic sci-fi fan with over thirty years of business and leadership experience, Allan Reini brings his unique insights and humor to corporate and church events. Allan lives in Hibbing, Minnesota, where he and his wife, Becky, are thankful to have all four of their adult children and their four grandchildren in close proximity. He has admittedly raised a family of self-professed nerds, including his eldest son and co-author, Aaron. Their first novel, Flight of the Angels, released in October 2012.
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  1. Julie D says:
    March 14, 2014 at 9:15 pm

    I really want to read this, but none of the libraries in my local system (including interlibrary-loan)  have this.

    Reply
  2. notleia says:
    March 15, 2014 at 8:47 pm

    Yet IIRC, this was one that bored now-official-review-dude Austin. Clearly we need a cage fight to resolve everything, though it sounds like Austin has the advantage because he has never mentioned grandkids.

    Reply
  3. Robert Mullin says:
    March 16, 2014 at 7:05 pm

    Julie, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but this book is not available in libraries. It was a difficult choice, and would not have been my preference.

    NotLeia, yes, this one was the one that bored Austin (all the more alarming when you consider that he breezes through a Sanderson book).  However, we had a lovely discussion based on his review, and he is a kind and gracious person who has generously agreed to be a beta reader on the sequel. As you will see on Amazon and Goodreads, the reviews always reflect a reader’s biases, and everyone will come away with something different from the experience.  You may be interested in  http://www.speculativefaith.com/reviews/bid-the-gods-arise-but-prepare-for-doom/ (which I believe Austin was subtly lampooning in the title of his own), or in http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Arise-Wells-Worlds-Volume/product-reviews/0615730787/ to give you an idea of the book’s general reception.

    Reply
    • notleia says:
      March 16, 2014 at 8:03 pm

      What? Reasoned discussion instead of cage fighting? What madness is this?

      Reply
      • Robert Mullin says:
        March 16, 2014 at 11:28 pm

        Will try to be more contentious in the future. We aim to please.

        Reply
        • Austin Gunderson says:
          March 17, 2014 at 1:00 am

          Judging from public demand, a cage fight might generate a tidy profit. 😉

          Reply
          • Robert Mullin says:
            March 17, 2014 at 2:05 am

            I’ll have Dania stand in for me.

            Reply
            • Austin Gunderson says:
              March 17, 2014 at 2:19 am

              Welp, I’d better go burnish my shardplate …

              Reply
            • E. Stephen Burnett says:
              March 17, 2014 at 11:39 am

              What did you expect on the internet besides reasoned and Christlike interaction between brothers? Why, I’m so confused.

              Reply
    • Julie D says:
      March 16, 2014 at 8:39 pm

      Why?

      Reply
      • Robert Mullin says:
        March 16, 2014 at 10:09 pm

        It’s a long story, but it has to do with the kind of ISBN associated with it. It doesn’t make sense, I’m not happy about it, but it is just the way it panned out.

        Reply
  4. dmdutcher says:
    March 16, 2014 at 7:33 pm

    I keep seeing good reviews for this book, and I need to get around to reading it. 

    Reply
    • Robert Mullin says:
      April 19, 2014 at 1:35 pm

      Yes. You do. 🙂

      Reply

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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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